Try Again
by AquaroseNamine
Summary: While trying to help someone else she can never seem to help herself. Roxas & Namine.
1. Written on a Missing Pencil

_"Naminé!" _

A shrill, crisp, familiar voice sliced uninvitingly through Naminé's silence, causing her to jump up and drop a box full of colorful pencils. She gazed down solemnly at her poor, unsuspecting red drawing charcoal as it careened out of her window and onto the dark concrete below.

"Naminé!" Kairi screamed again. Naminé heard her slam the door of their apartment with an unsettling crash as she pompously flounced into the room.

"Yes, Kairi." Naminé patiently hissed through her teeth, still peering over the edge to catch a glimpse of her pencil.

Kairi threw her pink and silver clutch on Naminé's favorite gray couch. Then she promptly continued her parade around the room, humming happily until Naminé acknowledged her presence.

Naminé dreaded what she was about to say. However after twenty five dresses, three hours of hair and makeup, and now one less red pencil, she couldn't see how it could be much worse.

"How was your date?" She cringed as she spoke.

Kairi's green eyes lit up and sparkled the way they did whenever she thought about Riku, her boyfriend of about two years, ever since junior year of high school. Kairi ran over to Naminé's love seat by the window and sat on the other side. Her rose tulle dress fanned out in one too many places, covering Naminé in an over-perfumed cloud of pink material.

"Naminé you should have seen what Riku did! It was the most beautiful, most _wonderful_ thing I've ever seen. After the walk on the beach he took me to this amazing restaurant where he..."

_Ugh._ She knew asking was a bad idea. She silently cursed her inability to ignore people. Especially Kairi, for that matter. Naminé picked up a violet pencil and started drawing random circles, periodically looking up and nodding to Kairi, who didn't show any signs of stopping her harangue on her date with Riku. Riku... He brought up so many problems. She didn't need to hear this. She wasn't the one who needed boy help. Only once had she truly liked someone, and that had ended less than favorable. And now, going to college in less than two months, Naminé would almost be rid of all boy drama. Unless of course Kairi decided to stay in Twilight Town. That would mean they would both go to the same school, Twilight Academy. Instead, Kairi was planning on moving back to Destiny Islands to attend school where she had old friends and family. But if things kept going the way they were going with Riku, the chance of events planning out in Namine's favor were looking awfully grim...

"Hello?" Kairi waved a silver bangled wrist in front of Naminé's face.

"Hm?" Naminé was broken from her thoughts. Her eyes traveled slowly to Kairi's face, her expression caught between excited out of her mind and really... _mad._

"Were you even _listening_?" Kairi spat. "I'm pouring my soul here."

"'Course." Naminé said, not sounding all too convincing. "Listen, Kairi." Naminé shifted in her seat, deciding whether or not to continue with what she was going to say.

Kairi looked at her with big, happy, bright green eyes. Her auburn hair whipped around her dainty face, long since fallen out of the sterling silver clips that previously held it up. Her perfectly shaped mouth bore the happiest smile Naminé had ever seen on her. She looked happy. Really, truly happy.

Naminé coughed uncomfortably and turned away, mumbling, "Never mind." She decided it could wait. She didn't know how much longer, but at least for now... it could wait.

Kairi got up once again and twirled around the apartment dreamily, all but forgetting that Naminé could talk; let alone say something remotely important to stay and listen too.

There was a beautiful sunset on the verge of disappearance over the horizon, slowly drifting off and blending into the rest of the night sky. Naminé stared at it for a long time, then finally deciding to draw it, reached into her pencil box. She groped inside excitedly, intrigued at the thought of releasing all her thoughts through her picture.

"Where is my red-" Then it hit her. It was down on the ground. She felt an overwhelming urge to start bawling. She set her head on the windowsill and stared at the ground, as if willing it to somehow swallow her up. Then she wouldn't mind people stepping all over her, as long as she could look up at the sky as it was happening.

"Looooooking for this?" A voice whispered in her ear next to her.

There were way too many syllables in that word, which meant only one thing. _Roxas._

Naminé looked up slowly to a beaming blonde boy grasping her red pencil excitedly, his dark blue eyes twinkling.

Naminé looked suspiciously at Roxas... then the door, trying to deduce how he possibly got in her house.

Roxas jumped in front of her and blocked her vision, waving the pencil in front of her face happily. "How did this end up on the ground?" he asked.

Naminé rolled her eyes. "Well I, uh, went down there and put it there. So you'd have an excuse to come up here and see me." She batted her eyelashes playfully and stood up. Slowly she put her hand on Roxas' chest and leaned forward until she was right next to his face, whispering in his ear. She felt his heart flutter with either excitement or immense fright. He started breathing heavily.

"Get out... of my house." she whispered then snatched her pencil from his unsuspecting palm. Quickly she left him, wide-eyed and stationary, to sit down and draw.

Roxas didn't move for several seconds. When he did, he appeared on the other side of Naminé and looked over her shoulder. "Naminé." he said quietly.

Naminé looked up slowly and met her bright blue eyes with his. They were full of a sympathy that she really didn't want right now.

"Have you told her yet?" he said.

Naminé's head sank. "I... I can't. She's so happy."

"Who's happy?" Kairi appeared in the doorway of the main room of the apartment, a towel on her head and a toothbrush in her mouth.

"Nobody, Kairi." Naminé said. Usually Kairi would have gone crazy if someone aside from Naminé saw her après-bath attire, but it was only Roxas, so Kairi could easily have cared less.

"Thai uam!" Kairi tried to speak while brushing her teeth.

Naminé smiled. "I know you are, Kairi."

Kairi returned to her bedroom, but not before flashing a suspicious look at the tall, lean figure of Roxas kneeling so close to Naminé. She giggled and left.

Naminé tried to think of what she could possibly be laughing at but came up with nothing.

Roxas was still staring at where Kairi had left. "I can see how that might be hard..." he sighed.

Naminé nodded. Then she thought of something. "Roxas! Just tell him! You're his friend. He'll listen to you." Naminé knew this was neither accurate nor appropriate to bring up, but she was slowly entering into such a state of desperation that Roxas' amelioration was no longer a very significant consideration to her.

Roxas jumped backwards defensively. "Whoa ho ho! Riku is _not _my friend! I think he's Sora's friend."

Naminé looked at him as if to say, _"And?"_ Truth be told she didn't even know who Sora was.

Roxas ran his hand through his golden spikes. "It makes more sense if _you_ tell Kairi." he said, leaning against the wall.

"In what reality?" she exclaimed. "Listen. Do you want me to tell _that_-" she motioned to Kairi's bedroom, "That the guy she possibly loves is deeply not in love with her?" she got up and leaned against the wall beside Roxas. "Her heart will break."

Roxas sighed loudly and shimmied down the wall. Naminé sat beside him.

"Fine." he said after a while. "I'll try. For you, I guess."

"Thank you." Naminé exhaled in relief and set her tired head on Roxas' shoulder. She left it there for a brief second, then in realization quickly took it off and sat back in her chair.

Roxas sighed and got up too. He leaned down towards her. "Don't lose my pencils again." he murmured. Then she heard him walk across the apartment, grab his keys, and leave.

Naminé reclined in her chair and closed her eyes. She waited like that until she heard Roxas get into his car, start it, and drive off.

She sifted through her pencil box, attempting to finish her picture.

But the sunset was gone.

She heard Kairi scream, "Naminé, where's my face mask?" from the bathroom. She didn't answer but instead looked closely at her red pencil. The particular brand had been a present from Roxas after the... fight. Naminé had thrown the whole package away in anger.

Naminé inspected the pencil. She found the writing Roxas had carefully carved into the side, and remembered reading it so long ago. She'd made a move to throw it away there and then, but hesitated, and instead tucked it carefully away in her box of pencils. It was a beautiful red, after all.

She re-read his message a hundred times before setting it down to leave.

"I need to try again," it said. "I love you... Roxas." 

* * *

I know it's a super short first chapter, but I left you with a cliffhanger!~ Muhuhahah.

A little different from what I usually write. This one doesn't follow the storyline, but it still has all the same characters and their personalities. :)

_Disclaimer_~ I own nothing.


	2. Arrival of the Sky

"The peach, Naminé. The peach." Kairi reached over Naminé's wandering hand, the wide brim on her pink-ribboned sun hat pushing into Naminé's face. "Do you even know what a peach is?" she snapped as she grabbed four of the orange fruit and stuffed them in her market bag.

"What kind of world do we live in where people don't know what a peach is?" Kairi kept going. "It's like I'm the only one." she shook her head. "The only one..."

Naminé was tempted to tell Kairi that she knew _exactly_ what a peach was, but she suspected that it would just make matters worse.

Kairi never found her face mask, hence the vigorous, grouchy shopping. Naminé stepped back a few feet, steering clear of Kairi and her vicious thrusting of groceries. Truth be told Naminé feared that Kairi could physically harm her at times, so the wise thing to do was step back and quietly discern the most opportune moment to tell Kairi just how irrational she was being. Oftentimes this moment never came.

In retreat, Naminé left Kairi and her rant to walk through the frozen goods section of the outside market. She fluffed her white sundress and noticed her canary gold rose sandals were collecting the red sand from the square. She sighed and sat down on a rickety crate to empty them.

"Naminé?" Someone said from above her. She looked up. There stood a boy, about her age, possibly a little bit younger. Or perhaps his adorable puppy dog look just made him look younger. He had spiky, gravity-defying chocolate hair that went in a million directions, but all seemed to come together flawlessly. _Looks like Roxas..._ Naminé thought to herself. The boy actually did bear a striking resemblance to Roxas: his soft, chiseled features, spiky hair, and predominant expression. The more Naminé looked at him the more he turned to look like Roxas. In fact, Naminé almost had herself convinced that it was some sort of joke until the newcomer extended his hand and said, "Hello."

Only two syllables for a two syllable word. She was forced to accept the fact that Roxas just might have a secret twin that was never spoken of.

Out of politeness and curiosity she shook the boys hand and returned the greeting.

"How do you know my name?" Naminé asked him, standing up and dusting herself off. Mounds of red sand fell off her perfectly white dress.

The boy wore a red and blue hoodie which he kept adjusting due to the heat. "You know Kairi, right?" he asked nervously.

Naminé started walking to the fruit section and the boy followed. "She's my cousin." she said while they were walking together.

The boy laughed awkwardly. "Yeah. Her parents told me." he said quietly.

"Who are you?" Naminé asked politely.

The boy looked up. "Oh, I'm Sora." he put his finger in his mouth without noticing. It looked decently cute, actually. "Her friend."

Naminé squinted and arched her eyebrows. "Right." she said. _Sora_. Roxas' friend.

They stopped by a table with an exotic fruit Naminé had never seen before. "Do you happen to know where she might live?" he asked her quietly, as if not wanting anyone else to hear.

Naminé smiled. "As a matter of fact-"

"Paopu fruit!" Sora exclaimed, making Naminé jump. He picked up the foreign fruit and tossed it over in his big but graceful hands, all the while staring at the patterns the star shaped berry made in the air. "I didn't think they'd have these here."

Naminé picked up a smaller one and held it to the sun. "What is it?" she asked.

Sora grinned. "They're native to destiny islands. If you share one with someone, your destinies become intertwined." his blue eyes sparkled. "I shared one with Kairi, once."

Naminé looked up from the fruit, taken aback by his comment. That particular look on his face was the exact same one Kairi had when she talked about Riku. Who was this boy? She needed to find Kairi.

Naminé ran the risk of a painful death and opted to look for her cousin. She spotted her running her fingers along the homemade jewelry stand.

Naminé grabbed the boy's wrist. "I'll show you to Kairi." she said absentmindedly, determined not to lose Kairi in the crowd.

"Really?" Sora exclaimed.

Naminé nodded and dragged Sora through the throng of midday shoppers. She got about halfway to Kairi when she realized she didn't have her bag. She patted her side and checked the ground. She glanced back at the crate she was sitting on, but it wasn't there either. Out of instinct and borderline desperation she started looking on Sora.

"Missing something?" Sora raised his hands as Naminé patted his back and his pockets.

"My bag." she frowned.

"This bag?" It appeared in front of her face, as if by a miracle.

But it wasn't a miracle. Just her usual dose of irritation.

Roxas smirked happily as she snatched back her white clutch.

"You really have to stop doing that because it's getting cliché." Naminé practically spat.

Roxas pretended to pout. He looked kind of good today. He had on grey jeans and a blue sleeved white baseball shirt that fit him a little too tight.

Sora jumped in. "Roxas?"

At his name Roxas looked to the stranger, partially hidden behind Naminé. When he saw him it looked like he recognized him from somewhere... he beamed brightly and said hello.

"What are you doing here?" Sora asked surprisingly.

"Good question." Naminé mumbled. Roxas ignored her.

"Well since forgetful here can't seem to keep track of anything..." he began.

Naminé got defensive. "Hey, I had everything until you showed up. You just have some innate, God-given ability to annoy me whenever possible. I mean, _seriously_, Roxas, is it honestly that hard to go out and bother someone else? You're driving me crazy. What are you even doing here? You don't go shopping. Not for anything important anyway. Did I mention you drive me crazy?" Naminé exhaled. She didn't usually talk to anyone like that, ever. But this wasn't just anyone. It was Roxas.

Sora interrupted the newly forming fight by saying, "I meant in Twilight Town."

Roxas spoke to Sora without taking his eyes off Naminé. "Oh ya know... things just play out."

Naminé rolled her eyes.

"Sora?" Kairi appeared behind Naminé, who slowly backed up behind her. If Kairi didn't kill her, maybe she would protect her from something that was clearly brewing.

Sora's face lit up. "Kairi!" quickly he wrapped her in a tight embrace, as he mumbled, "It's amazing to see you." into her shoulder.

Kairi's face showed many signs of complete confusion. She looked at Naminé for an explanation, but Naminé only shrugged. Then she looked at Roxas, who just smiled.

Finally Kairi was able to break away from Sora's hug. She pulled up the strap of her strawberry pink dress and took off her sunhat, as if getting ready to speak. But all she could do was stand there, with Sora's eyes wide and mouth open, waiting for her to talk.

After several ridiculous moments of complete silence Naminé took Kairi's arm comfortingly. "_Kairi..._"

Kairi braided and re-braided her auburn hair, twisting strands around her fingers until they turned bright red. "Hello... Sora." she said timidly.

Sora just smiled uncomfortably. Roxas laughed. Naminé hit him. And Kairi looked like she was about to make a break for it, so Naminé held onto her arm.

"Well." Roxas broke the silence. "So, Naminé. How long have you known Sora?" he looked at her, something in his eyes and his voice. Was that... jealousy? Maybe. Not that she cared.

Naminé stared straight ahead. "Just a couple of minutes, actually."

"Kairi?" he motioned to her.

"Just a couple of decades. Give or take a few years." she said automatically without looking up.

"Cool." Roxas said, and drove his hands in the pockets of his jeans.

Sora cleared his throat. "So, where are you all going to school next year?"

Naminé saw nobody was answering so quietly she said, "Twilight Academy."

"Really? Wow. I hear they're pretty tight on who they let in." Sora said still watching Kairi.

"She's an artist." Roxas said. "She's really good." he smiled and combed his blonde spikes with his fingers.

Naminé didn't know what to make of that.

Sora nodded. "What about you?" he asked Roxas.

"Oh." he coughed. "Uhm, Radiant Garden University." he said with not a single readable tone in his voice. His expression was just as blank.

"Kairi?" Sora asked kindly.

Kairi looked up. "Undecided." was all she said.

Naminé knew all Kairi had ever wanted was to go to college in her home town. She'd dreamed about going to Destiny Springs College as long as Naminé could remember. She had family and friends there. Ones she missed. Truth was, Kairi had been accepted into almost every college in the area. She could pick any one she wanted. The question was, what did Kairi really want?

"How do you know each other?" Naminé asked Roxas.

Sora spoke up. "High school friends."

"How? I've never seen you. And I went to high school with..." she backed out without saying Roxas' name. It was not the brightest or most enjoyable subject matter for idle chat.

"Our families know each other." Roxas explained.

"Right..." Naminé tried to think why Roxas had never mentioned him to her before.

Kairi tugged on the hem of Naminé's dress. "We should go..." she said quietly. Naminé had never seen Kairi so timid like this. It was a completely different her. Naminé wasn't sure if she wanted to hug her or run away screaming.

"Uhm yeah..." she looked at a clock poised on the fabric of a tent. They'd been here longer than expected.

"Yeah." Roxas shuffled his feet in the sand. "Nice seeing you Sora. Check in before you leave." he started walking backwards to the exit.

"'Course." Sora smiled.

"Bye Naminé." Roxas waved as he smiled almost smittenly. Without looking he walked backwards into a crate of birds a vendor was selling, tripping and finally falling into the dirt. One of the gates flew open and the birds quickly began to disperse.

Naminé smiled as Roxas jumped up and ran around sheepishly, stumbling out apologies and trying to catch the flying white birds.

She turned back to Kairi and tried to lead her out. "It was very nice meeting you, Sora." she grinned. "Stop by anytime."

Kairi's eyes widened.

"We're just in the apartment across the street." Naminé said.

"Bye, Kairi!" Sora exclaimed.

Kairi only gave a half-hearted wave, and then they were gone.

* * *

:) Psst: Sora is the sky by the way.

**Disclaimer:** I do nay own Kingdom Hearts. Hahaha if only if only.


	3. Washing away

"Kairi?" Naminé rapped twice on the smooth oak door. "Kairi, you've been in there for nearly two days. Please come out. Kairi?"

No answer. After that day in the market Kairi had gone home, locked herself in the bathroom, and stayed there. More than forty-eight hours had gone by and she still hadn't come out. Naminé didn't even know if she had eaten.

"They say toothpaste is bad to consume, you know." Naminé wondered aloud, leaning against the door in her blue satin pajamas. "It burns your throat." She flinched. "Sounds painful."

Nothing.

"I've never tried toothpaste, though. Like I said... burns."

Naminé could hear Kairi shift on the floor. Perfect. She was making things uncomfortable.

"I wonder if Riku has ever burned his mouth. Or Sora. Maybe eating that papa destiny fruit thing. Did your mouth burn?" she asked curiously.

She heard Kairi groan.

"My mouth burned once when-"

"Naminé!" Kairi's muffled scream came from the other side of the door.

Naminé pressed her ear against the door. "Yes?"

"_Shut. Up._" Kairi sighed.

"Are you going to talk to me?" Naminé crossed her arms.

Naminé heard silence. Then a melancholy sigh, and an unlock of the door.

"Whoa." Naminé caught herself before she crashed to the bathroom floor. She looked up. Kairi stood over her ominously, like a shadow. Surprisingly she looked exceptionally beautiful for someone who had slept on a bathroom floor for two days. Despite some stray hairs and dark circles she looked perfectly presentable.

Kairi stepped over Naminé and walked across the hall to her room. Naminé trailed closely behind.

"Kairi please talk to me." Naminé sat on Kairi's bed while Kairi put on fresh clothes in her closet. Naminé remembered picking out this very apartment. She, being her timid and shy self, had not protested at all when Kairi chose the bigger room with the full vanity mirror and walk-in closet. In actuality, Naminé didn't really mind anyway. She had never desired such things like Kairi did. Kairi's room was strictly pink, almost the exact opposite of Naminé's room, which was entirely white. Her heavy drapes were a sultry rose and her pale pink bedding matched the upholstery on her chairs. Naminé's room had a puffy white bed, fluffy white chairs, and Naminé's favorite spot in the whole apartment, a balcony that overlooked Twilight Town. Naminé was simple: therefore her room held no secrets. Unless of course you peeled back the wallpaper...

She shook her head to shake out the oncoming thoughts.

"What are you doing?" Kairi stood, dressed, and leaning with her arms crossed against her dresser staring at Naminé like she had finally taken the very last jump off the deep end.

Naminé stopped mid-shake. "Something. In my ear." she decided. "Something bad."

Kairi gave Naminé the same look that she gave the sweaty paper boy every morning when he flirted with her.

Naminé sighed. "Kairi, will you please tell me what's wrong?" she whined. "What is your deal with Sora?"

Kairi threw a shirt on her bed with force. "Naminé I will tell you what is up with me and Sora if you tell me what the deal is with you and Roxas."

At that Naminé actually laughed, but seeing the completely serious look on Kairi's face managed to turn it into a vicious cough.

Kairi stared at her. She glared straight into her soul. Naminé shivered, then shifted.

"Kairi, there is absolutely nothing going on between Roxas and I." she said, putting Roxas-like emphasis on the word absolutely.

Kairi rolled her eyes, but said nothing. Naminé exhaled in relief.

"Sora is..." Kairi groped for words. "Sora is different. He's amazing." she said dreamily. "He's really... amazing."

Naminé started to pull on the hem of her pajamas.

"He... just has this _way_ of making you feel good. He makes me feel so good." Kairi folded some pants subconsciously. "And I've known him forever."

Naminé listened intently and wrapped the string around her fingers.

Before Kairi had even finished speaking she had a haphazardly half-folded pile of jeans, which she tossed to the edge of her covers. "But I'm in love with someone. I'm in love with Riku, Naminé. I love... Riku." she repeated this many times, almost like she was trying to convince herself.

"And then Sora comes along looking all... older and handsome and expecting me to hug him and be happy and I just can't do it, Naminé, because I loved him, and he broke my heart. He broke my heart." she lowered her head and a couple of tears dripped onto her pink velvet pajama bottoms. "And I just don't know what to do, because I love Riku." she closed her eyes and recited it over and again. "I love Riku."

Naminé lifted her arm to put it on Kairi's and noticed she had unraveled enough thread for a small ball of yarn. She picked it up and gently dropped it in her pocket. "Kairi..." she put her hand on Kairi's. "I'm sorry."

"Why are _you_ sorry?" Kairi shouted rather aggressively.

"I told him where we live." Naminé whispered.

Kairi was silent. Then out of the blue she burst out in her signature fit of laughter and put her head on Naminé's chest. "He's going to _come_ here." she giggled. "He's going to come to our house."

Naminé put her hand on Kairi's back when her laughter turned to tears. She cried for a while until Naminé lifted her head up.

"Kairi I really need to tell you something." Kairi lifted her heavy eyes to meet Naminé's. "It's about Riku." she sighed.

Kairi sniffed. "Yeah?"

Despite her nagging uncertainties, Naminé started to speak. "He...-"

"Baby?" someone screamed from the front of the apartment. The front door slammed close.

"That's him!" Kairi screamed and leapt up.

"You gave him a _key_?" Naminé shouted disapprovingly.

Kairi sifted through the nice shirts in her closet and grabbed one. "You gave Roxas a key!" she exclaimed. In one swift motion she grabbed her makeup kit and ran to the direction of the bathroom.

"That's different!" Naminé stumbled after her. Just as she reached for the door it slammed in her face and Kairi bolted it shut.

"No it isn't!"

Naminé jiggled the knob. "Kairi." she hissed. "I had no idea be took it back."

No answer.

"Kairi! What about Riku?" Naminé whined.

"Go stall him!" Kairi yelled.

"Kairi, no!"

"_Naminé_!" Kairi screamed.

Naminé slowly let go of the knob in defeat. This was the very last thing she was doing for her cousin. She went back to Kairi's room and fixed her hair a little bit, then slowly trudged into the living room to face the devil.

She put on the most fright-inducing expression she could muster (which for Naminé wasn't anywhere close to being scary), and walked up to Riku and his all-too-perfectly straight hair that Kairi "loved." Naminé always thought he deep-conditioned it because it glimmered even brighter than Kairi's did. Which _was_ saying something.

"Hello, Riku." Naminé said vacantly.

He winked the signature warm aqua eyes that always seemed to drive girls insane. Like Kairi, for example. But not Naminé. She usually opted towards deep blue eyes.

"Hey." he smiled. "Where's Kairi?"

Naminé walked the length of the room without taking her eyes off of Riku. She settled in her favorite grey couch and started drawing. "She'll be out in a minute." She said, hoping the ambiguity of her answer wouldn't give him the satisfaction he desired.

But he just smiled and said, "Cool." as he sat down.

"Did I _say_ you could sit on my couch?" she was tempted to say, but bit her tongue. For good measure though she continued to glare at him from across the room until Kairi came out.

She had undergone a transformation. Her eyes were no longer bloodshot and watery, her makeup was powdered and lined to perfection, and she had fresh clothes on.

Riku grinned when he saw her, but Kairi grinned wider. She squealed and jumped into his arms.

"I missed you!" she screamed and then kissed him.

Naminé crinkled her nose in revulsion and turned away.

"Me too, baby." he gushed and stroked her hair.

Oh, how sick, Naminé thought. Not only does she and Roxas see him with another girl, but he actually pretends like nothing ever happened at all. Like he never did anything wrong.

Naminé remembered the day clearly, even though it was over four months ago. She had been eating alone at her favorite café, and she'd been perfectly content by herself. She was drawing with her new ballpoint pens on the corner of a napkin and sipping coffee, when a lean blonde boy had plopped down in the seat next to her.

"God, do you _have_ any friends?" she had scoffed to Roxas' smirking face.

"I do." he reclined in the café chair. "I just choose to find the prettiest girl on the street and sit next to her." his deep blue eyes twinkled.

"There's a brunette in the corner. Go sit over there." she turned back to her coffee.

"Nah, I'd rather sit with you." he smiled.

Naminé rolled her eyes to the ceiling and kept them there. Roxas looked up too, as if trying to see whatever she was looking at.

"Is there a reason you're over here?" Naminé sighed.

Roxas inched his chair closer to hers and grabbed one of her colored pens. He took her hand and started drawing something on her palm.

"Listen..." he started to speak.

"Wait. Shh..." she put her finger over his lips as he was talking. They were soft. She quickly pulled them back.

He let go of her hand. "What is it?" he rolled up the sleeves of his navy blue sweatshirt. It just so happened to match the exact shade of his eyes.

"Is that... Riku?" she squinted to catch a glimpse of the platinum haired boy walking hand in hand with a red haired girl through the clothes shop across the street. "And Kairi?"

Roxas stood and looked. "Yeah." he said. "Looks like it."

"C'mon." Naminé grabbed Roxas' wrist and dragged him through the outside coffee shop and behind a large vender's cart. She peered over at the walking and laughing couple, now just feet from Roxas and Naminé's vision. The girl still had her back turned to them.

Naminé watched as Riku put jewelry on the girl's wrist. "She looks a little short..." she thought.

And then she turned around.

"Oh, man..." Roxas said beside her.

It certainly wasn't Kairi. This girl had a rounder face, whereas Kairi's angular features were more heart-shaped. Her eyes were a fierce ice blue, firm with lust and hostility. This was a girl who knew about Kairi. Naminé could see in her face that she knew exactly what Riku was doing, and approved of it. This was a girl who would fight for him.

Naminé sank to her knees on the ground. "Oh." she laughed stiffly. "Oh my God."

Roxas sank down beside her. "I'm sorry, Naminé." his eyes showed genuine concern. "I'm really sorry."

Naminé's expression was blank. She closed her open mouth and got up. "I have to go." she said and started walking in the direction of her home.

"Naminé, wait..." Roxas called out to her, but she kept walking. When she rounded the sunny corner she started running.

When she got home, tired and overwhelmed, she leaned on the entrance door and breathed heavily. She looked at her hands and her heart stopped.

Slowly she walked into the kitchen sink and scrubbed off Roxas' heart until it disappeared.

* * *

I am liking this story. Eeek! I love Roxas and Naminé~~~


	4. Invitation

Roxas and Naminé had decided to become friends almost four months ago, after both seeing Riku and the other girl together. It was never spoken out loud, of course, the friendship. They both slowly started speaking to each other again, even if it was different the second time around. Naminé realized it was better to have him in her life, even if friends were all they could ever be again. It helped that Roxas knew about Riku too. Had Naminé been the only one to see it, the pure agitation of owning the secret on her own would have undeniably consumed her until she went crazy. Naminé had made effort after effort to try and tell Kairi about Riku, but time and again Kairi would corroborate happiness greater than the day before when she was with him. Truthfully Naminé didn't have the heart to tell her cousin, and best friend, that they guy she loved had been with another girl for who knows how long.

That's why she hadn't said anything.

It was cruel, in a way. Naminé knew this huge, terrible secret that she _literally_ couldn't tell, and she kept it even though she was making it worse each day that nothing was said.

Naminé sat on her balcony, soaking up as much sun as she could get before Kairi found her sitting there doing nothing. She could hear Kairi in the living room with Riku testing out music for the night. Ever since two days ago when Kairi had gotten to see Riku she was in an all-around better mood. In fact, in the last forty-eight hours Kairi had only threatened to kill Naminé once, a pleasant deviation from her usual three or four death threats a day.

In order to _"re__-cleanse her life,"_ Kairi had decided to host a friendly party in the apartment. And unless Naminé wanted to sleep on the street for the next two weeks, she had to help Kairi get ready. Naminé's chore list included the painting of a beautiful banner, designing the overall theme of the party, and writing personal invitations to the guests. In fact, it seemed like the only thing Naminé didn't have to do was hand-blow the crystal dining glasses.

"Naminé? Where are you?" Kairi came traipsing down the hall, high heeled boots clanking against the wooden slats of the laminate pergo.

Naminé sighed and took off her white hoodie, revealing her soft blue tank top and white beaded skirt, allocating the warm beams to shine directly onto her skin. "In here." she said.

Kairi back stepped and walked into Naminé's room. She put her hands on her hips and scowled. "Would you come here, please? After all, there _is_ work to be done."

Naminé got up and followed her cousin into the living room where Riku was banging his head along to some tune on the stereo. "Like this one, babe?" he asked Kairi.

Kairi nodded like she actually cared. "Amazing." she beamed. Riku smiled and wrapped his arms around her waist.

"Oh listen to this, Naminé." Kairi frequently used hand motions to fully express whatever she was saying. Whenever she spoke she demonstrated exactly what she was talking about. This moment was not excluded. "Imagine this on our banner." She put her hands high in the air, framing an invisible headline. "'We put the a-party! In a-partment!" she flashed a toothy, proud smile. "Or maybe, 'We won't _be-little_."

Naminé furrowed her eyebrows and stared straight ahead, unsure of how to answer.

"You're brilliant, babe." Riku kissed the side of Kairi's face as she giggled.

Naminé put on a smile. "Well. I'm just going to let you two... whatever." She slowly backed out of the room and left Riku to deal with Kairi and her terrible puns.

"Dress nice!" Kairi yelled after her.

"Uhhh." Naminé fell on her bed and groaned. She was already tired, and the party didn't start for another five hours.

"Psst." a voice floated from Naminé's open window. Something that sounded like a rock hit the top of the glass.

Naminé got up and opened her window the rest of the way, bathing her room in the warm mid-afternoon summer glow. It felt so nice, Naminé was tempted to lay in it and never move again. She looked down at the ground.

She smiled broadly when she saw who it was. "You want one more room to the left." she yelled.

"Damn!" Sora called back. He ran his hand through his hair in thought. "Is she here?" he asked.

Naminé opened her mouth to speak, but shut it. Instead she nodded. "But she's a little busy right now." she said, deciding it was for the best not to tell him about Riku.

Sora nodded in understanding and looked down at the street.

Suddenly an idea burst into Naminé's head. "Say, Sora... how would you like to come to a party?" she yelled.

He smiled.

* * *

Sooo I did something kinda dumb.

I totally forgot this chapter. I was reading this story and I could _SWEAR_ there was a chapter missing, because some things weren't explained and I knew myself better than that. So I checked and I was... right.

Sorry :(  
I moved it, this is technically chapter 4.


	5. Of Parties and Embarrassment

Parties were always unbelievably boring, in Naminé's opinion. However, since Naminé's idea of a good time was sitting in her room and drawing, and since Naminé and Kairi were polar opposites, it stood to reason that Kairi happened to love parties. Big parties. Loud parties.

"Kairi, don't you think you should turn it down?" Naminé covered her ears and shouted over the booming dance music.

Kairi was dancing next to Riku to some loud, techno, hip-hop music that Naminé had never even heard of. She had selected a pink flouncy strapless dress which she decided to pair with a white shrug (which had long been shed in the corner) and high white heels. Naminé cringed each time she moved another step, fearing for her cousins poor ankles.

Kairi didn't hear her, so Naminé repeated the message.

Kairi was smiling. "We need more glasses for the drinks." she said slowly, like Naminé was some sort of invalid.

Naminé sighed and walked to the kitchen. Earlier in the day Naminé had scoured her closet for something to wear. However, due to the obvious lack of variety and color choices she posessed, Kairi had picked an outfit for her. As much as Naminé hated to admit it, Kairi had style. She knew how to dress so people would like her. Naminé had always thought all the fancy clothes were a little shallow- people liked her just fine in the clothes she wore. In fact, he had always made a note to tell her that...

Before Naminé could finish her thought she ran into... him.

She sighed. "Can I have my key back, please?" referring to how he kept getting into her house.

Roxas completely ignored her comment. "Wow, Naminé. You look really... Great. You look great."

Naminé looked over herself. Kairi had decided to dress Naminé in one of her new cocktail dresses. It was still white, but it went to her knees and had the most beautiful navy and silver design that crept up from the flowy handkerchief bottom. Around the straps were tiny silver beads, and Kairi had made her wear strappy silver heels despite her plea for a simple pair of flats.

Naminé mumbled something indistinguishable for her answer.

Roxas had dressed up for the evening, too. He had on a crisp button up dinner shirt with a nice black tux. His tie was a navy blue again, matching his eyes. And Naminé's dress, which was too much of a coincidence for her.

She promptly ended her short-lived conversation with Roxas and pushed her way through dancing guests to the kitchen. Of course, he followed her.

"Nice party." he nodded to the decorations. "I'm guessing you did all of that."

Naminé grunted her answer as she tried to retrieve the frosty white glasses from the very top of the kitchen cupboard. Unfortunately, even her heels didn't give her the height she needed. She almost had one when it tipped on it's side and started rolling off the edge.

Naminé screamed and fell to the floor, possibly a little too dramatically. She heard a crash, but no glass hit her. She looked at the floor and it saw the glass scattered all around her.

She slowly stood up. Roxas loomed over her, hand outstretched. Blood dripped unstoppably onto the counter. He had stopped it with his hand.

Naminé gasped and grabbed a dish towel, putting pressure on his hand. "Roxas, you are so stupid." she exhaled.

He laughed. "Better my hand then your head." he corrected. Well, she couldn't argue with that.

"Stay here, keep pressure." she ran to the bathroom and fished the first aid kit out of the closet. When she came back she found Kairi standing with her arms crossed, staring at her broken glass and bloody counter.

"What is going on here?" she yelled.

Naminé sighed, grabbing Roxas' hand forcefully, making him yelp in pain. "I have it under control, Kairi."

"Well I certainly hope so!" she yelled and with a flip of her hair had withdrawn herself from the kitchen.

As Naminé cleaned and dressed his wounds, Roxas kept looking at her. Finally she looked up.

"Fine." she looked him in the eyes. "Thank you for saving my life." she said mechanically.

He smiled.

Suddenly Kairi stormed back in the kitchen. "Naminé!" she hissed, then motioned for her to follow.

Naminé looked at Roxas with pleading eyes, but he just shrugged.

"Useless." she spat as she walked into the living room.

Kairi dragged Naminé into the very center of the hub of talking guests. She pushed her and whispered, "Go mingle."

Naminé made an unpleasant squeaking noise. "I've had enough mingling already..." she whined.

Kairi was about to push her again when Naminé noticed someone and started walking towards the direction of the snack table.

"Sora?" she asked the tall boy leaning over the punch. He turned around.

"Hey, Naminé!" he beamed. "Great party."

"Yeahmmhm say Sora... has Kairi seen you yet?" she asked.

Sora looked around. "I don't think so." he thought. "Why?"

"No reason. No reason at all."

"Hey, Sora." Roxas came into the group, hand bandaged and holding a full martini glass. He leaned down and whispered to Naminé. "Why is he here? Kairi didn't invite him, did she?"

Naminé looked at him, annoyed. "Well I guess this is just the day of people showing up uninvited, isn't it?" she smirked.

"Roxas! I didn't think you'd be here." Sora put his hands in the pockets of his slacks.

"Yeah, well, I would never miss one of Kairi's parties."

"Unless you were dead." Naminé mumbled, then giggled evilly to herself at the prospect.

"What's so great about Kairi's parties?" Sora asked, intrigued.

Roxas smirked. "Anything can happen."

That scared Naminé a little. She backed up a few inches.

"Naminé did these decorations, you know." Roxas tried to make conversation. "Impressive, huh."

Sora's eyes traveled the room and landed on the welcome banner displaying Kairi's slogan. "Even... that?" he knit his eyebrows together in what looked like confusion and disgust.

Naminé smiled. "No, that was all Kairi."

He didn't say anything for awhile. When he did he smiled and said, "Clever."

Roxas leaned in. "Seriously?" he whispered.

Naminé hit him on the back. "Yeah, it's really clever."

Roxas rubbed his back. "Ow."

"Hey, all. Having a good time?" Kairi giggled and joined the circle, completely oblivious of Sora's presence. She was bouncing up and down like some sort of crazed rabbit.

"Haha, Kairi?" Naminé pulled her to the edge of the room. "Are you drunk?"

Kairi laughed louder than was necessary. "Yes, dear cousin. With love." she whispered dreamily.

Naminé rolled her eyes.

"No, seriously Naminé. Riku is..." her eyes wandered across the room and her voice drifted off. "Naminé... please tell me that isn't Sora." she sniffed.

Naminé blocked Kairi's vision. "Okay. That is definately not Sora." she said. "Now go drink some water."

"But nobody else has that beautiful hair." she pointed out.

"Roxas?" she tried.

Kairi thought about it. "True." she sighed in relief. "Too true."

"Yes, so, go find Riku, and... have a good time." Naminé steered her cousin through the throng of guests.

"Okay." she giggled.

When Naminé rejoined the circle she was greeted by two more people. One was a tall, muscular boy with blonde hair. The other was a petite, brown haired girl with piercing green eyes.

Naminé shook both the girls hand and the boy's as Roxas introduced them as Hayner and Ollete, some of his childhood friends.

"Nice to meet you." Naminé smiled.

"You too!" the girl gushed. "I don't think I've ever seen you in Twilight Town! How long have you been here?"

"My... whole life?" Naminé said carefully.

The girl smacked herself on the side of the head. "Duh! Roxas just told me that!" she laughed.

Roxas laughed. "Ollete, you're exactly like you were in like eighth grade."

"I know!" she exclaimed. "I'm told that like all the time!"

As Roxas and Ollete continued their conversation, Naminé, Sora, and Hayner just backed outside of the circle awkwardly. At least, that was what Naminé thought was awkward. But in reality, nothing could have prepared her for what happened next.

Kairi appeared (once again) in the midst of the conversation and started leaning on Naminé heavily. "Naminé, I really really think it's Sora now. Because look at Roxas." she got closer. "He has blonde hair." she whispered. "Plus," her voice returned to full volume. "You're the one who's supposed to be with Roxas, not me!" she laughed like she had discovered one of the worlds greatest mysteries.

Roxas arched his eyebrows at Naminé, who laughed awkwardly. He and Ollete had stopped talking and now everyone was looking at Kairi. "Right? So that can't be Sora." She kept talking. "Also another reason be can't be Sora is because Sora is standing right there." Kairi looked like she was getting sleepy.

Suddenly Riku came by and started to pick Kairi up. "Kairi, come on." he said.

"Dude, control your girlfriend." Roxas turned to his drink.

"_Girlfriend_?" Sora said in disbelief.

"Not helping!" Naminé hissed at Roxas as Riku tried to pry Kairi from her waist.

"Wait, no. I have to see if it's really Sora. Sora?" she started screaming dozily. "Sora!"

"She needs water." Naminé instructed Riku. Whenever Kairi got drunk like this, her small body size made her unbelievably out of it. And after that, it made her unbelievably sick. Oh, well, Naminé thought. Riku could deal with that.

She turned back to the circle after Riku had taken Kairi away. She turned to Roxas and motioned to the untouched martini glass in his hand. "Are you going to drink that?" she sighed.

"Be my guest." he handed it to her, and she drank it all in one gulp.

"Whoa." Hayner said. "This is an awesome party."

Sora was still looking at the ground. His expression was blank, and his blue eyes were bloodshot and watery. A few moments later he excused himself, and went home. Naminé knew not to try and stop him.

* * *

I hate this chapter. I'm almost embarrassed. God.

Anyway I know its not tremendous, but its leading up to the next chapter, which I really really like. :)


	6. Colorful

"Typical. Kairi gets drunk and I am the one who has to clean up the après- party mess." Naminé bent down and picked up some dropped napkins. Her heel twisted in the high heeled shoe. She peeled both off and sat on the ground, closing her eyes and trying to meditate her mind; make it calm. She focused on her breathing. In... out. In... out. In...

"What are you doing?" _Out_. Naminé opened her eyes to see Roxas looking at her strangely. She pointed at him. "Don't make me file some sort of court order on you." she threatened.

"I forgot my jacket." he said, but sat down next to her anyway.

A few moments later she opened her eyes to him staring at her. "Yes?" she questioned.

He leaned against the couch. "Are you okay?" he asked.

Naminé thought. "Lemme ask you a question." she said, not answering his.

"Shoot." Roxas shrugged.

"Who would you rather have to live with: Sora or Kairi?"

He thought. "Sora." he eventually said.

She sighed. "Exactly."

Roxas sat up. "So?"

She reached over and pinched his arm. Hard.

"Ow!" he moved away defensively.

"Now you know how I feel." Naminé said.

Roxas laughed. And then, everything was silent.

"Hey." Naminé sat up.

"Hey." Roxas smiled.

"You haven't used any over-used, cliché gestures on me today." Naminé tugged on the beading of her dress.

Roxas thought. Then he jumped up and grabbed a single rose from a crystalline vase. "Here." he handed it to her. "A rose for every time I... haven't thought about you." he looked down hopefully. "How was that one?"

Naminé took the rose and held onto it. "Lame." she laughed.

Roxas crossed his arms in front of his chest. "Don't count me out yet." He extended his hand to her. She took it and stood up.

"Where are we going?" she exclaimed as he dragged her at a brisk pace down the hall. He turned into the doorway of her room and held his arms out ta-da style.

"Hey look, it's my room." she said flatly.

He sighed and pulled her inside.

"Remember this?" he firmly grasped a piece of her white wallpaper and tore it off, taking the whole length of the wall with him.

She gasped. "Hey! Tearing back people's wallpaper is not cliché. It's mean." she frowned at the pile of white that had surfaced on her floor. "Why did you..."

A glimpse of color caught her eye by the light of her window. It was a bright, bright cerulean. Then a flash of neon orange, lemony yellow, followed by an emerald green. She walked up to the wall and ran her hands along the smooth, colorful surface. "Huh." she laughed once.

Roxas did the same thing. "This was fun." he said. "Remember?"

Naminé did remember. It was early one morning about three years ago, they very day they got the apartment. Roxas and Naminé had been very best friends back then, ever since she transferred mid year to Twilight High. They were deciding what color to paint her room, on a bright sunny day.

"What color do you want it?" Roxas had jumped up and down in anticipation. He motioned to the many tester paints with his paintbrush.

Naminé had thought intently about it. "Something matte. I don't want a color that hurts my eyes. Maybe navy. Or pale blue. Or, we could paint it white!" she got excited.

Roxas looked at her like she was completely crazy. "White? Are you kidding me?"

"Yes!" she exclaimed. "And then it will match the rest of my- Roxas, what are you doing?" she screamed mid-sentence.

Roxas had grabbed the blue paint and splashed some on the walls. Then as Naminé watched in horror he took the orange and pink and yellow and did the same thing.

"Oh my God." she shook her head. "What have you done?" she looked at her tainted walls, now rid of the clean, fresh white and stained with every color imaginable.

"Naminé there was no way I was going to let you paint your walls _white_." he said, looking back and admiring his work.

"Well paint _this_!" In anger Naminé snatched a paintbrush dipped in a royal purple and ran it all across his face.

Slowly Roxas shook his head and flurry of violet came out of his golden hair. He picked up a brush. "Needs some blue." He dabbed a dollop of midnight indigo on her nose and mouth.

Naminé gasped and inhaled paint. She grabbed the paint can of azure and dumped it on his head. The paint went everywhere- on her floor, her chair, and her bed. "Enough, now?" she smirked.

Roxas looked up slowly, his clothes dripping with blue and his hair stained purple. Then he grabbed another color and doused Naminé with it. It went on until they were both leaning against her newly-painted wall, tired and about a million different shades of the rainbow.

Naminé started laughing. "I am so _dead_." she sighed.

"We got your room painted, though." he pointed out.

She laughed and looked him in the eyes. He looked back and put his hand on her dainty, painted face. And that was when he Roxas gave Naminé her first kiss.

Yes... Naminé remembered.

"I am still mad at you for this." she said, leaning against the wall and looking at him.

Roxas took her hand and opened it up; grabbing the rose she had been holding. Carefully he placed it in her hair. "There." he said. "Now you have a little color."

She smiled and touched the flower.

Roxas looked up. "Wow, you still have these?" he said, referring to her glow in the dark stars stuck to the ceiling. "You put these up when you moved in."

"I like them." she said defensively.

"Music." Roxas had seemingly lost interest and was playing with Naminé's iPod. He attached it to her dock and started playing some upbeat, techno piano music.

Naminé liked this song. Without noticing she started twirling in her dress to the music, not paying attention to how tired she was feeling.

Suddenly Roxas swooped in and danced with her. She smiled and kept dancing, not even thinking about what she was doing. She was lost in the moment, and she couldn't find her way out. Which was okay, for now. Roxas smiled as he watched her dance and twirl, and neither of them made a move to stop. Her blonde hair whipped around her face. She  
felt... good. Like she used to before.

"Naminé!" Kairi burst into her room. Quickly Naminé stopped dancing and pressed pause on her dock.

Apparently after three hours Kairi still hadn't turned back to normal. Her eyes were still glassy and her step was unbalanced and uneasy.

"A party a day keeps the losers away!" she winked and then left. In this instance Naminé was grateful Kairi wouldn't remember anything in the morning.

"Where does she even _get_ those?" Roxas asked once Kairi was gone.

Naminé shrugged. "I think she makes them up."

"Should we be worried?" he asked.

Naminé sighed. "I wouldn't even know who to call."

Roxas laughed quietly for a moment. He grabbed his things. "I'd better..." he said.

"Yeah." Naminé didn't look at him. "You'd better go." 

* * *

Aw! :) Hope you like. I know its short.

_If you're my girl, swirl me around your room with feeling_  
_And as we twirl,_  
_the glow in the dark stars on your ceiling_  
_Will shine for us._  
_As love sweeps over the room_  
_'Cause we tend to make_  
_each other blush..._  
_You make me blush._


	7. Pure White

"Kairi?" Naminé extended her hand and nudged her sleeping cousins back. "Hello?"

Kairi grunted loudly. "God, Naminé, do you have to _scream_?" she yelled.

"I... wasn't screaming." Naminé laughed nervously.

"I suppose you could call this Karma." Kairi exclaimed. She pulled her pink sheets over her head.

"Kairi, please..." Naminé pinched the fabric of the cover and gently tried to pull it back.

Kairi screamed and slapped her hand away. "You wouldn't understand!" her muffled whine came from under the sheets.

Naminé sighed. "What wouldn't I understand?"

"Life, Naminé." she murmured. "You wouldn't understand life if it gave you an instruction pamphlet."

Naminé mouthed, "What?" to the empty morning air.

"You have no life problems." she confided. "Perfect skin, perfect best friend, perfect- well not your clothes, but _maybe_ your hair."

Naminé laughed. "Kairi if you truly thought I had no life problems I would call your parents and have you tested."

Kairi started sobbing. "That doesn't even make any sense!" she hiccuped.

"Kairi, listen..."

"No, _you_ listen, Naminé. You didn't make a fool of yourself like I did. You have something to look forward to out there. I don't. So go be happy, Naminé. Go be happy and leave me alone. And for the love of _God_ stop breathing so loud."

Naminé stared straight ahead. "I only came up here to give you this. " she patted the top of the box she was holding.

Kairi was silent. "Is it a present?" she whispered.

"Uhm. Sure." Naminé inspected the brown paper package tied with one piece of faded yellow string.

"Who is it from?" she asked.

Naminé chuckled. "Let's not get ahead of ourselves, here. One step at a time." she encouraged.

"Naminé. Who. Is. it. From." she used her deep, authorative voice that always scared Naminé into telling her things.

Naminé shifted uncomfortably. "It'sfromSora." she mumbled.

Kairi waved it away underneath the covers. "Burn it." she said.

"But what if it's-"

"Start a freaking fire and burn it."

"Okay, there is no need for language." Naminé insisted.

Kairi groaned. "Oh save it."

"Fine. Don't open it. I don't care." Naminé got up off of the bed and walked casually to the door, where she dropped to her knees and peeked her head in the room.

Kairi lifted her head from the covers slowly and stared angrily at the package, as if willing it to catch on fire. Then her expression changed and she just stared at it blankly, resting her head on the pillow; unmoving, unblinking.

"I know you're there. You might as well come in." Kairi sighed.

Naminé shuffled to Kairi on her knees and leaned on the bed. It was silent as the two cousins looked at the box. A newspaper hit the outside window. A passerby car honked its horn. A bird flapped its-

"Kairi, are you going to open it?" Naminé interrupted nature.

Kairi's expression was unclear. She could have easily run away, laughed, or jumped out the window for all Naminé could tell. Cautiously Kairi pulled the string, making it unravel. Then she opened each corner with every fourth tick of her bedside clock.

Naminé made a mental note to get Kairi tested for OCD.

Eventually the box was open, and Kairi peered inside. After she looked she stared straight ahead, and then covered herself in her sanctuary of cashmere once again. "It's empty." she said.

"What?" Naminé laughed and grabbed the package. Sure enough, the box  
was just as empty as poor Kairi's heart.

"Just another package of empty promises and broken dreams." she burst into tears.

Naminé put her hand on Kairi's back comfortingly. This didn't make any sense. She had to fix things. She had to help Kairi. And Sora, if she could.

She stood up to leave.

"Where are you going?" Kairi cried.

"For a walk. I need to think." Naminé said. "I'll be back in awhile."

Kairi looked sad but said, "Okay. Close the door on your way out. And for goodness sakes... stop walking so loud."

Naminé kicked a dropped can and then bent down to pick it up. She had been circling Sora's block for about an hour, and was still working up the courage to go in. After about twenty more minutes of aimless walking and all the bravery she supposed she could muster, she finally knocked three times on the door of the apartment where Sora was staying.

An extremely pale and flustered orange-haired girl answered the door. "Yes?" she looked like she was going to be sick.

Naminé peered over the girls shoulder. "Is Sora here?" she asked.

The girl sniffled and wipes her nose with a crumpled wad of tissues. "He left." she said.

Naminé's eyes got wide. "Left? Where?"

The girl sighed a very long sigh. When she finally spoke she just said, "Friends." and then proceeded to hack uncontrollably.

Naminé watched her all but die for a few seconds, then asked, "Did he leave an address?" when the coughing had subsided.

The girl slumped into the kitchen, leaving Naminé at the door. She came back with a pink sticky note which she stuck to Naminé's forehead. Then she said goodbye and shut the door.

"Thank you!" Naminé called. She peeled the note off her head and tried to decipher the slanted, almost completely illegible handwriting.

_Selphie, _  
_I'm going to a friend's. If you need me the address is 234 Sunshine _  
_Circle. Thanks._

Signed _Sora_. "God!" Naminé exclaimed. "How is that every one of my outdoor walks turns into one with _him_." she stuffed the note in the back pocket of her jean shorts and started walking towards the Main Square, which would eventually lead her to Sunshine Circle.

On her way through the town she stopped to admire several highlight points of where she got the privilege of living. For instance, a crazed vendor tried to get her to buy a "dog," which actually just looked like a small black thing. She giggled hysterically as she tried to tell him no, she already had a dog, by the name of Roxas. She had bought a fancy new set of drawing pencils, then instantly regretted having gone through the tempting art shop in the first place. Then she stopped at her favorite fountain and threw in a penny, wishing for happiness for Kairi. Or at least, that was what she wished for out loud. She wondered which wish would come true.

The very last place she stopped by was the flower shop. She had walked into the cool, fragrant, colorful boutique and been greeted by a black haired young woman with small daisies adorning her silky hair. The woman showed her so many beautiful and vibrant flowers from many different places. Naminé thought every single flower was even more beautiful than the last, until she came upon the soft red and white roses. There she stayed, despite the woman's urge to move on. She stared and stared at them, before finally deciding to buy a beautiful, unstained white one. She almost paid, but in the middle of handing it over turned back and grabbed the red one also.

By the time she had done away with all her summer earnings, it was almost too late to walk the rest of the way to Roxas' house. However, Kairi in mind, she blazed through the summer sun and kept going.

When she finally arrived, she didn't even have to knock on the door before Roxas opened it with a grin.

"Hey, Naminé!" he said. "What's up?"

"I was told Sora was here." she said, turning both roses over in her hand.

Roxas looked over his shoulder. "Yeah... He's not doing too good." he said quietly.

Naminé's frown fell farther. "What do you mean?" she asked.

"Well... he won't leave." he whispered very quietly.

Naminé stifled a laugh. "Still choose Sora _now_?" She tried to walk inside.

He put his arm over the door to block her way. "I don't think so." he said.

Naminé widened her eyes in shock. "Excuse me?"

"Yeah I really don't think he wants to talk right now." Roxas ran his hand through his messy spiked hair.

"Really." Naminé said.

"Yeah."

Naminé made a move like she was about to leave. Then swiftly she turned around and hit Roxas' in the stomach and ran underneath his arm into his house.

"Thanks for letting me in." she smiled and stuffed her roses in her bag.

"No problem." he wheezed, and shut the front door.

Roxas' house was just as she recollected, possibly a little tidier. It was still dark with the exception of a few open windows, and it was just as poorly decorated as she remembered.

She kicked a wrinkled t-shirt with her sandal and looked around. Then she put her hands in the pockets of her shorts and rocked back and forth on the balls of her feet. "So..." she hummed. "Where is he, exactly?"

Roxas looked skeptical. "I don't know if I should tell you." he picked up a dirty shirt and threw it on the living room couch when he thought she wasn't looking.

"Why not?" she asked, peering in each of the observable rooms.

"You hit me." he frowned, peeling up his shirt, revealing his perfectly toned abs to inspect his stomach.

She sighed and pulled his shirt down.

"Just tell me where he is." she said.

He pretended to think. "No." he smirked.

"Roxas, tell me."

"No."

"Why not?" she yelled.

"You hit me."

"I was _here_, I know what happened." she yelled.

"Naminé?" Sora appeared on the staircase. He looked like a mess, was the first thought that entered Naminé's mind. His already spiky hair was now pointed in a million more directions. He had on black sweats and a t-shirt. In all actuality just looked tired.

"Hello, Sora." she smiled.

"What are you doing here?" he stuffed his hands in his pockets and shuffled down the stairs.

Naminé thought about how to plan her choice of words. "I... came to see how you were doing." she said a little too perkily.

He flinched at her voice. "I'm okay..." he said.

Naminé nodded. "That's great."

And all was silent. Naminé looked at Sora. Sora looked at Roxas. And Roxas was staring at Naminé's bag where she had deposited the roses.

Sora nodded then excused himself as Naminé watched horrifically, but said nothing.

When he was gone Roxas exclaimed, "Wow you really are not good at telling people things."

She glared at him. "As if you would actually _dream_ of helping me!" she yelled.

He was silent.

"I have to go." Naminé said.

"Wait." Roxas grabbed her by the wrist.

Naminé pulled both of the roses out of her bag and gave him the white one. "Here," she said. "You need a little less color."

She slid the red one in her hair and watched Roxas' fingers tighten around the pure white rose. Then she closed the door and was gone.

* * *

It has come to my attention that I messed up and this was the same as chapter 6 for awhile. Sorry. Here's the right chapter. :)


	8. Old friends and new Roads

"Have a cookie." Kairi stuffed a double chocolate chunk in Naminé's face.

"No, Kairi, for the fourth time I would _not_ like a cookie." she waved her hand away.

Whenever Kairi came out of a spiraling depression she baked. Muffins, cookies, doughnuts, bread, cakes. Normally it was okay to have a couple of sweets lying around, but not when your kitchen counter was full of them and the entire house's supply of butter was gone.

"I made 300 of these last night so just eat some!" she pushed another towards her mouth.

Naminé sighed and took a bite. Immeadietly she spit it out on the carpet. "Kairi I don't know how to tell you this but your cookie is terrible." she stuck her tongue out in disgust.

Kairi sat down and put her head in her hands. "Then it was probably from the batch where I spilled all the cooking oil." she said.

Naminé's eyes grew wide. She started walking towards the hall. "I'm just gonna... wash my mouth." she ran to the bathroom when she was out of Kairi's view.

As Naminé was rinsing her eyes happened upon her white bag, haphazardly thrown from the rack onto the floor, no doubt by Kairi. A small orange point was sticking out...

Naminé bent down and pulled a tiny star-shaped fruit from her bag. She racked her memory as to where it came from. Then she remembered. The market. Sora had been marvelling about the exotic fruit when they had first met. She ran her hand over the smooth exterior.

"How did this get in my bag?" she wondered aloud. Then something hit her. However the fruit ended up in her posession, she had not paid for it. She started to panic.

"Kairi I think I am a thief." A wide eyed Naminé walked into the living room.

"Happens to the best of us." Kairi took a bite of a muffin and flipped through a magazine.

Naminé sat down. "So are you okay now? You know, to have a life?"

Kairi didn't answer but stuck a yellow **'yes'** sticker on a designer bag.

"When was the last time you talked to Sora?" Naminé asked quietly.

Kairi flipped a few pages then replied, "Around two years ago." like it was no big deal.

"Uh huh..." Naminé said. She was going to go out on very thin ice here. "What exactly... happened?" she ventured.

Kairi closed her magazine, clearly seeing that she wasn't going to get any reading done. "Lemme guess." she crossed her legs and put her hands on her chin. "You think... that maybe he might have cheated on me."

Naminé coughed. "Well, it was a possibility..."

"Well here's the thing about Sora, Naminé." she leaned in close. "Sora would _never_ do that. To anyone. Least of all _me_." She re-oppened her magazine and started reading. "Go eat some muffins." she said.

Naminé sighed and left Kairi to her reading. "I'm going for a walk." she disclosed, then grabbed her purse, shutting the door behind her.

Naminé walked to her favorite coffee shop, where she loved to sit and draw. She sat at her favorite spot behind the flowered hedges. It was a perfect place to not be completely seen but also not obstructing her view of the street. She picked up her charcoal pencil and drew a basic outline of the shops and was just getting ready to shade when someone sat beside her.

"Déjà vu." she sighed and put down her sketchpad. What she saw made her jump. "Wow you are _not_ Roxas." she shifted up in her chair. "Who are you?"

The newcomer lifted the black hood of his sweatshirt just enough to see Naminé's face. "Are you the one named Naminé?" he asked in a purposefully deeper voice.

Naminé was tempted to lower her voice the same and say "I am the one named Naminé." However she knew she wouldn't be able to stay serious looking so she just said, "Yes."

The stranger covered his head farther with his hood hastily. "Please!" he stuck his hand out, looking around to make sure nobody else heard them. "Don't speak so loud."

"Who are you?" Naminé drank her coffee and tried to peer under the man's hood.

"I'm looking for Roxas." he said. "You know him."

"Unfortunately."

"Where is he?" the boy looked up and Naminé caught a glimpse of his brownish-blonde hair. The color looked familiar...

"If he's in trouble with the law I will be happy to reveal to you where he is." her coffee cup met the glass table with a clink.

"Well, not exactly." the stranger's voice returned to regular tone. Naminé instantly recognized it.

"Wait, Demyx?" Naminé slapped her hand on the table.

He lowered his voice again. "Um, no." he coughed.

"Demyx." Naminé smiled.

"Damn." Demyx sighed and pulled his hood off. "Hey, Naminé." and outstretched his arms, prepared for a hug.

She hugged him. "Where have you been?" she grinned at she and Roxas' high school friend. She hadn't seen him since graduation. "Coffee?" she offered.

He waved it away. "Actually I need to see Roxas." he said.

"Of course." she sighed and sipped her coffee. "Where is Axel?" she questioned.

Demyx thought. "Well..."

"_He _isn't in trouble with the law is he?" she said worriedly.

"Nah, not right now." Demyx said. "Thing is..." he motioned for her to lean closer, so she did. "He's meeting up with a girl." he whispered almost silently.

"Oh." she whispered back.

She pulled back and resumed her sketching. "So, why do you need to see Roxas?"

At that Demyx started stuttering, which Naminé always remembered him doing when he talked about something he wasn't supposed to.

"Demyx..." Naminé put down her pencil. "Why are you here?"

Demyx started looking really panicky. His face grew a vibrant, brilliant shade of red and his breathing was stifled. Then he shot up. "Hey look there's Axel!" he shouted.

Naminé turned around. "I don't see..." she looked at Demyx, but he was gone. She chuckled and started drawing again.

About an hour later she was walking home in the setting sun of the afternoon. It felt really nice on her air-conditioned skin from the café. She stopped for a moment and closed her eyes, soaking it all in.

"Mmhm. You were right." someone slipped something on her head. "White definately looks better on you."

She opened her eyes to Roxas, smiling over her. He was wearing dark blue jeans (you can guess that they matched the exact shade of his eyes) and a grey hoodie. His hand fell from her head, where Naminé could feel he had put another flower. She pulled it out, wincing in pain as the thorns pulled out a kink of her hair. It was the white one she had given to him the day before, maybe a litlle whithered but the exact rose all the same.

She slapped it back in his palm and started walking again, smoothing her hair with her hand.

He followed behind her. "You'll never guess who I saw today." he said.

"Demyx?" she replied.

Roxas almost said no but then looked at her quizzically. "How did you know?" he asked.

She hopped down a few back streets stairways. "Total random guess." she said.

"Wonder why he was here." he shrugged.

"How much munny can I give you to leave?" she said.

He laughed. "You don't want me to leave."

She stopped and looked at him. "Why not?"

"Because right now you're heading towards Sunset Plaza." he pointed out.

"Of course I'm-" she twisted around and looked at the sign above her. It read: _TO SUNSET PLAZA._

She growled. She was lost, once again, in the backstreets of the town. She was about to sneak through an archway and ditch Roxas, but instead he grabbed her wrist and pulled her another direction. "This way's shorter." he said.

She was too tired to disagree, so she followed him blindly through a very dark passageway. "Roxas are you trying to get me killed?" she tripped and almost fell down a flight of stairs.

She felt his hand slip around hers. It felt warm and familiar. Electric-like bolts shot through her body. She shivered. "This way." he said. Not that she could see where 'this way' was, but she fell silent anyway. However after a couple minutes she retracted her hand and rested it on his shoulder instead. Because, to be honest, it hurt too much to even hold his hand again.  
Because the longer she held it, the more it hurt when she let go.

* * *

I lovelovelove Kingdom Hearts 3


	9. A Thorn in your Side

"Well, I'm glad we decided to take the _short_ way home." she hissed.

"Naminé, I am not _lost_." Roxas insisted.

She crossed her arms. "Right, right. You just don't know where you're going, I suppose."

"Exactly." Roxas pointed to an open tunnel for Naminé to walk towards.

Unlike most towns, Twilight Town had the most exstensive, long, completely confusing backstreets of any place Naminé had ever been. There were tunnels, stairwells, hallways. And once, in the dark,  
Naminé had sworn she had come across some sort of catacomb, which freaked her out so much she didn't sleep for a week.

"I could have been closer if I had stayed the way I was going. At least _then_ I would have known where I was." she said.

"Either that or you would be on the other side of town."

"You are so distracting!" she shouted. "I know exactly how to find my way around my own town unless you're with me, being all _distracting_."

This intrigued Roxas. "I'm distracting?" he smirked.

Naminé looked at him from the side. "Not like that." she said.

He pretended to look sad. "Did you hear that? That was my heart breaking." he pouted.

"Did you hear that? _That_ was the sound of me breaking it." she started walking again.

"Naminé, waaaait." he ran to catch up to her.

"Roxas when we get out of here it's going to be you, me, and a fifty pound sledgehammer." she threatened.

He must have taken the hint. He spaced himself farther from her. Smart move.

For a long time they walked in complete silence. The only audible sound was their feet stomping on the cold concrete. The sky was growing ever blacker, and they were too far off the darkened road for the streetlights. Naminé started shivering in the cold air.

"You cold?" Roxas made a move to give her his jacket.

"No, no." she waved it away.

He slippped it back on. "Right. Cliché. Got it."

Naminé was having a hard time keeping up due to lack of warmth. She gazed longingly at Roxas' jacket. No, she told herself. No. She didn't  
need it; think warm thoughts. Fireplaces. Blankets. Jackets...

She was really cold.

She sighed, losing the battle against herself. "Fine." she said.

He took it off and put it around her shoulders. It smelled like him. Roxas usually smelled like his cologne combined with a steady aroma of mint. She inhaled deeply. It smelled good.

"Feeling better?" he rubbed her arm.

She nodded. "Are we close?" she asked.

"Goooooood question." he said, once again accentuating every possible syllable.

She looked at him.

"Fine, I have no idea." he breathed heavily and a stream of cold air flowed out of his mouth into the air. "I think it's time to worry."

"What if I die out here?" Naminé whispered.

"Okay, now you're just being dramatic." he said.

"Wait, what's that?" Naminé exclaimed, pointing ahead. She thought she saw a quick flash of light... maybe just a glimpse but light none the  
less.

"What, what?" Roxas yelled.

No, now it was gone. "Nevermind. Sorry." Naminé put her head down.

Roxas' voice sounded deflated. "Damn." he said.

Naminé remembered something. "Do you have any idea why Sora might send Kairi an empty package?" she asked Roxas, who just shook his head no.

They both walked in silence, periodically stopping to discuss which  
was the better way to go.

"This is ridiculous." Naminé shook her head. "How does this even happen?" she thought about whether or not Kairi would wonder where she was. Probably not, she decided. In fact, the only other person who might actually care if she was gone was standing right next to her, humming an indistinguishable tune as he walked. Then she realized that she really needed to get some new friends. Or maybe some old friends.

She looked at Roxas. "Demyx was looking for you. It seemed important."

"He found me." Roxas nodded. Then he smiled. "Axel's here too."

"I know. Demyx said he was meeting up with someone."

"Yeah, Larxene. She and Axel have been on and off for awhile." Roxas replied.

Naminé couldn't recall a Larxene. "Who is that?" she wondered aloud.

Roxas skipped ahead of her and talked to her walking backwards. "She went to school with us."

Naminé pointed at his feet. "Remember what happened last time you tried that?" she warned.

"Please." he waved her comment away. "I happen to know _exactly_ how to-" as he was speaking he lost his balance next to a staircase. The next everything came in slow motion. Roxas' arms grasped for something in front of him to grab onto to. His left foot got caught underneath his right leg and he started to fall on his back. Naminé gasped and watched in horror as he started to stumble down the concrete stairwell. Naminé thought about it. If he was lying at the bottom of a backstreet maybe she wouldn't have to-

She didn't even have time to finish her thought when Roxas trapped Naminé's wrist in a death grip with his big hand. She yelled slowly as her limbs flew everywhere and suddenly she was on Roxas, tumbling down a long flight of stairs.

The fall seemed like forever. Falling, tumbling, crushing of hands and fingers. When at last both Roxas and Naminé were at the very bottom of the staircase, breathing heavily. Naminé was strewn across the hard ground with her eyes shut tight. Roxas had landed directly on top of her, hand comfortingly resting underneath her head, seemingly protecting it from the fall. Her right knee was pointed up and lodged in Roxas stomach.

"God." he said and breathed heavily. She put her knee down and he fell on top of her.

She opened her eyes and felt his hand beneath her head. It was almost comforting to know he had thought to protect her head. However it was not consolitory enough to protect him from her wrath.

"Roxas what the _hell _is wrong with you?" she shouted.

He just smiled sheepishly and said nothing.

After awhile she just shouted, "Get off of me!" so he carefully retracted his hand and lifted himself off of her. He held his hand out to help her up, but she ignored it.

"Man." Roxas bent down and examined a point right under Naminé's shirt. She could see crimson blood slowly creeping through her white top. It was coming out fast, but she didn't feel anything. Gently she touched the spot with her thin fingers and pulled back sticky blood.

"Take off your shirt." Roxas said.

Naminé almost choked. "Excuse me?" she said.

Roxas ripped a thick strip of fabric from the bottom of her skirt with little trouble. "Take off your shirt. You're really bleeding."

"You just-" she started.

He sighed. "Naminé if I really wanted to, do you think I would care that you might be hurt?"

Naminé thought about it. Roxas was not the kind of person who would take advantage of this kind of situation. Not at all. She slowly took  
off her tank top, keeping her eyes on Roxas' every second. He had small cuts on his face and concrete burns on his arms.

Roxas touched the spot with his fingers. Naminé looked down. Whatever she had hit on the way down had contributed to a very large, very deep cut into her chest. Roxas tried to wipe away some blood with the sleeve of his sweatshirt. She flinched, feeling pain. He saw her.

"Does it hurt?" he asked.

She tried to breathe. She felt pain when she inhaled. "Yes."

Roxas wrapped the long piece of cloth around her chest tightly and tied it in the back. "Okay." he pulled her shirt back over her head and helped her up. When she was up she exhaled sharply and fell back down.

"I-I can't breathe..." she said.

He helped her up and put her arm around his neck. "Put your weight on me." he instructed. He put his arm around her waist.

"Okay..." she put her head on his chest as they walked.

They kept walking for a long time, not speaking. Roxas helped her down stairwells and through tight tunnels. After awhile Naminé's breathing was getting uneven and raspy. Roxas set her down on an abandoned shop doorstop, and knelt down beside her.

She closed her eyes and shivered again, but tried to focus on her breathing. She felt Roxas slide behind her and put his arms around her to keep her warm. Naminé was so drowsy she didn't even have the energy to say anything, let alone stop him. Plus he was warm, and it distracted Naminé from her stifled breathing. Roxas put his head on hers and stayed there. Naminé could feel the steady rythm of his heart against her back, which was the last thing she remembered before she drifted off to sleep.

* * *

You say you feel like a natural person,  
You haven't got nothing to hide.  
So why do you feel imperfection  
Cut like a thorn in your side?


	10. Scares the Most

"Naminé!" a feminine voice drifted through consciousness. It sounded worried, gravely upset. "_Naminé!_" it insisted again.

Naminé opened her eyes slowly. They felt heavy and weak compared to the lightheadedness she was feeling. Looking up she saw tiny white stars.

Kairi slowly came into view. First her bright eyes, then blinding white teeth formed into her normal grimace; then her flowy red hair that started to hit Naminé in the face.

"Naminé, wake up!" Kairi yelled. "Someone needs to help me eat all these _cookies_!" she nudged Naminé's arm forcefully.

"Kairi, don't push her!" someone warned.

She saw Kairi turn around to face someone. "Do _not_ tell me what to do." she threatened.

"_Yes, ma'am_." the other person murmured.

Kairi turned back to Naminé and softened her expression. "Naminé. How are you feeling?" she put her hand on hers.

Naminé tried to speak but her chest felt heavy. "I-I don't know." she tried to sit up.

Roxas appeared above her and pushed her back down carefully. "Don't get up." he said. He lifted her shirt and pressed on her wound with his hand.

"Uhhh." she flinched. She felt like someone was sitting on her chest.

Kairi slapped his hand away. "Don't touch her!" she yelled. Roxas' hand hovered over her cut. He looked at Naminé.

"It's fine." Naminé said through closed teeth.

Kairi huffed and got up to leave.

Naminé sighed. "Help me up." she held out her arm. Roxas gently secured her against a headboard of a bed. She looked around. She saw ripped wallpaper and an open balcony. Somehow or another she had ended up in her room. She had no idea what time it was, or how she had gotten there.

"Roxas..." she said.

He sat down and looked at her. "Yeah?"

She furrowed her eyebrows in pain as she shifted in the bed. "I really really don't like you."

He looked as if he was trying to remember what she was talking about.

"You know, about pulling me down a flight of stairs and giving me a two inch laceration in my chest." she urged.

"Oh, right." he smiled stupidly. "I'm sorry."

"I forgive you." she smiled.

"Really?" he looked up hopefully.

"Absolutely not." she snapped.

He smiled. After awhile, she couldn't help but smiling too.

"Uhm there are two extremely twiggy, colorful people at the door." Kairi walked into the room. "Do you want me to let them in?"

Naminé thought about all the twiggy, colorful people she knew. Unfortunately, twiggy and colorful didn't match the description of anyone she could recall. She nodded to Kairi anyway, hoping they were familiar.

"Okay." Kairi sighed and held out her hand. "Nobody do any roughhousing around-"

"Naaammie!" a flaming red haired boy in a charcoal jacket burst into the room.

"Hey!" Kairi shouted. A smaller, familiar boy peeked in behind her. "Hey, Naminé." he smiled.

"Demyx." she beamed. "Axel."

Axel jumped on her bed. "Namie what the hell have you have you been doing with yourself?" he bent down and examined her chest. "Niiiiice." he laughed.

"Stop looking!" Kairi pushed him off. "Everybody stop looking."

Naminé looked at her.

"What?" she insisted. She crossed her arms across her chest. "I'm protecting your innocence."

"They're friends, Kairi." she smiled and looked at them.

Naminé looked at Axel. "Oh, yes. I know you. _You_ were the one who set the banners on fire at graduation." she sneered.

"I put them out!" Demyx shouted.

Kairi ignored him. "You were the one," she got down on the bed and put her face right next to Axel's. "Who took my prom dress and painted it _red_."

Axel looked surprised. "I did not think you remembered that."

"Mmhm." Kairi raised her eyebrows. She walked to the doorway. "If any of you touch her, you'll have to take it up... with _me_."

And with a slam of the door she was gone.

Naminé smiled apologetically.

"So, Roxie." Axel sat up.

"Don't call me that." Roxas stated.

"What did you do to Namie-"

"Don't call her that." he interjected.

"-to give her that?" he motioned to Naminé's chest.

"He pushed me down stairs." Naminé nodded.

"_Accidentally_." Roxas clarified.

In the corner Demyx was staring into a glass vase with day-old water. His eyes sparkled as he twirled his fingers around in the bowl and made ripples.

Naminé coughed and yelped sharply in pain.

Demyx pouted sympathetically and Axel gave Roxas a dirty look.

"However," Axel looked at Naminé, then at Roxas. "We all know Roxie would never hurt Naminé on purpose."

Demyx nodded in agreement.

Naminé ignored this and countered Axel with a question. "How did things go with Larxene?"

Axel's smile faded as quick as it had come. He groaned and stuffed his head in Naminé's pillow. "I don't want to talk about it." he murmered.

Naminé looked at Demyx for clarification. He mouthed the word, "Dumped."

"Axel." she put her hand on his back. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be." he sat up. As he started to think about her his eyes moistened. Slowly his features melted and his expression sunk"I think I'm going to go home." he said. Then he shut the door behind him and left.

"Ouch." Roxas said. Axel would never have shown that kind of emotion in front of anyone.

Naminé looked at the place where he had gone and thought about all the girlfriends Axel had had, and broken up with. None of them had ever made him as depressed like that. "Yeah..." she sighed.

Demyx got up. "I'd better go, too." he patted Roxas on the back. "Don't get hurt again." Demyx bent down and hugged Naminé. Then he left, too.

After they were gone Kairi came in and pointed at Roxas. "They are never allowed here again." she forewarned.

"Why?" Naminé asked.

"He took my muffins!" she squeaked. "All of them!"

Naminé rightly suspected she was talking about Axel.

"Now you won't have to eat them." Roxas pointed out.

Kairi didn't confirm nor deny that, but slammed the door with a growl none the less.

"What's up with her and Riku?" Roxas sat on her chair.

Naminé sighed. "He hasn't talked to her since the party." she looked at him. "How's Sora?"

"He won't leave my house." Roxas said flatly, putting his head back over her chair and looking at the ceiling.

"Right."

Roxas didn't say anything. "Are they the only ones who dont know they're in love?" he sighed after awhile.

Naminé sat up quickly. "He loves her too?" she said excitedly.

"Yeah. He won't stop talking about her. About them and Destiny Islands and boats and this magic fruit."

"Paupu fruit." she said.

"Yeah, that one." then he smirked. "Did you get it?"

Naminé looked at him quizzically. Get it...?

"Ohmygod." she said. The fruit in her bag. Roxas had put it there?

He nodded. "I saw you looking at it."

Naminé looked around. "You paid for that, right?" she whispered.

He laughed. "Of course."

Naminé exhaled in relief and laid back on the bed. Then she smirked. "You know if you share that fruit with someone both of your destinies become intertwined, right?"

He thought about this. "No kidding." he laughed once.

"Yes." was all she could think of to say.

It was silent for awhile, as Roxas closed his eyes and rested. He must have been tired... no doubt he had carried her home last night.

"Roxas?" Naminé broke the silence.

He looked up. "Yeah?" he said.

She couldn't believe she was saying this. "Thank you." she sighed. "For making it okay." she looked at her hands, avoiding his eyes.

She heard him shift in the chair. From the corner of her eye she saw his blue eyes twinkle. "Yeah." he ran his hand through his hair. "You're welcome."

"And... if you ever push me to my death again, I _will_ get Kairi to hurt you." she smiled.

"I know." he laughed. "That's what scares me."

She chuckled and laid down again, closing her eyes.

She heard Roxas get up and lean over her bed. "And I know she would kill me if I did this." he bent down and gently kissed her on her forehead, letting his lips linger for just a moment.

"So don't tell her." he smiled, then walked out of her bedroom and was gone.

Naminé sat up and touched the spot where he had kissed her. She didn't know whether it was the kiss, or the fact that she hadn't pulled away, that scared _her _the most.

* * *

I know it's short! Just like all of my chapters... I'm trying to make them longer. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think the way I write is very descriptive or something and doesn't need a lot of words. I don't know.

:)


	11. Impossible Help

"Kairi, just go with me. Please." Naminé begged.

Kairi cut a few strawberries and some juice dripped onto her pink dress. She didn't notice. "_You_?" she shouted. "_You_ aren't even supposed to be up." she chopped a pear in half.

Naminé squirmed. "I've been in bed for three days." she whined.

"So?"

"So... so it's like being stuck in your closet for more than seventy-two hours. How would that be?" she reasoned.

Kairi thought about it as she stuck the fruit knife in the air. "Depends." she said.

"On what?"

"How many cashmere sweaters I have." She resumed slicing.

She sighed but blamed herself. Kairi didn't usually understand metaphors and the sad thing was, her answer was completely serious.

"What is this?" Kairi picked up an orange, star-shaped fruit.

Naminé bit her fingernail. "It's a... Paopu fruit." she said timidly.

"I know." Kairi smiled. "I'd recognize it anywhere." Her eyes seemed to get lost in the fruit as she looked at it. "Where did you get it?"

Naminé decided to leave out the part about Roxas and just said, "They sell them at the market."

"Oh."

Naminé realized they were getting off topic. "So will you go?"

"I remember eating this for the first time." Kairi inhaled the fragrant fruit deeply.

"We could just take a walk." Naminé offered. "Get out. Maybe we'll see him around."

"Sora gave me some." she smiled. "It was so long ago."

"Eat it." Naminé replied.

Kairi gasped. "Naminé!"

"What!" she shouted.

"You cannot just _eat_ a paopu fruit. It has to be shared with someone..." she pulled herself onto the counter, staring at the Paopu. Her red hair was pulled in a tight ponytail and it swung back and forth when she moved. "Someone special."

Naminé slipped up beside her, barely missing a diced bowl of melon. "Special?" she said.

"Yes." Kairi's eyes were milky and dreamy. Then she looked at Naminé, handing her the fruit. "Here. You can have this one." she smiled. "Share it with someone special."

Naminé was just about to tell Kairi she didn't have anyone to share it with when she saw Kairi's beaming face. She took it to be kind (even though it was hers anyway) and instantly approved of her choice when Kairi smiled brightly.

They both got down from the counter. "Okay, hand me those apples." Kairi said.

Naminé did as she was asked, then stood back in amazement as she watched Kairi make something other than bready- related products. Namely, fruit salad.

"Noooo!" Kairi exclaimed. "We don't have pineapples..." She looked at Naminé hopefully. "Naminé?" she used her cute face that usually got her anything she wanted.

"I'm not going to the market unless you come with me..." Naminé sang.

"_And I'm not going if there's a chance Sora will be there..._" Kairi sang back.

Naminé opened her mouth to object, but just ended up shutting it and grabbing her keys. "I hope you know I'm not doing this for you!" she shouted before slamming the door. Kairi answered, but Naminé blocked it out.

Naminé drove to the market as usual, but this time she parked beside a familiar silver car. Roxas' car, which meant Sora.

Naminé wandered through the market tents, but neither of them were there. She picked up Kairi's pineapples, and grabbed herself some berries to take home. As she was walking out to her car, she spotted Roxas across the street. It was an unusually colder day in Twilight Town, so Roxas had chosen to wear a hoodie again, with diesel jeans. She pulled up the shoulder cut sleeve of her white sweater and pulled her boot-cut jeans over her navy flats. She liked it when Twilight Town was beautiful and sunny- almost frozen in a permanent sunset. However, her very favorite weather was the occasional hazy, breezy air that sometimes swept its way over the streets.

Out of instinct she held her arm over her chest, which she had been subconciously doing for the past few days. Her wound had been healing better; she had gone to see a doctor and had herself stitched up.

She started walking to Roxas, when she noticed he was not alone. He was slumped on a rickety crate at the skate shop across the street. He loved to go there and daydream about each and every board. Naminé had seen him in action before, and he was amazing. He could do tricks on a speeding board that Naminé could never even dream of doing while walking. It was impressive.

As Naminé walked a little closer she saw that the person he was talking to was Demyx. As she approached Demyx looked up and smiled.

"Hey, Naminé. How have you been?" he asked.

She set her bag on a crate. "Better. I got stitches." she announced, possibly a little too proudly.

"Wicked." Demyx nodded. "A lot of pain?" he wondered.

She shook her head. "Nothing too bad."

Demyx grinned. "That's great." then he glanced at Roxas with a certain look. It was a look of silent communication. Naminé deciphered it easily; she and Kairi were fluent in that particular art of  
conversation. In fact, it had been the cause of both of them almost failing psychology one year.

Demyx's eyes said something about Naminé being there. _Why would that matter?_ She wondered.

Roxas looked at her. "What?" he squinted in confusion.

She realized she had spoken out loud. "Nothing." she shook her head.

"Well I'm really glad you're feeling better, Naminé." Demyx said. "You look much better. Almost back to your same beautiful self."

"Uh, thanks Demyx." Naminé mustered a smile.

"Well, see you later!" he waved and walked in another direction.

"What was _that_ supposed to mean?" Roxas shouted.

Naminé shook her head. "No idea." she sat down on another crate.

Roxas turned to face her. "Well here's a change. You found me." he smiled.

"Actually I'm looking for Sora." she stated. "He is with you right?"

Roxas looked disappointed but pointed to the other side of the street where Sora was looking at some jewelry. "Be careful. He's holding a necklace."

"I'll be okay." Naminé rolled her eyes, grabbed her bag and ran across the street. On her way over she almost died by a big red car, to which she heard Roxas laugh irresistibly.

"Sora?" she asked after she shook herself off.

He turned around. When he saw her his face changed to something in-between a smile and a stifled frown.

"Hi." she said breathlessly.

"Hey." he blew a strand of hair with his mouth. It didn't move.

Naminé chose her words carefully. "Listen. I know you're upset with me, for asking you to come to that party." when she said _party_ she crinkled her nose in disgust.

Sora waved it away. "It's no big deal."

It was.

"Besides, it was my fault I didn't know the girl I loved loves someone else." he frowned.

"Who loves someone else.." Naminé accidentally said.

Sora caught it. "What?" he leaned closer.

She looked up and smiled innocently. "Nothing." she insisted. "It's nothing."

His head fell, either from being really depressed or just having nothing left to say.

"Hey." she remembered something. "Why did you send Kairi an empty package?"

Sora looked at her out of the tops of his eyes. "I... didn't." he said  
slowly.

"You didn't send her a package?" she asked.

"It wasn't empty." he corrected. "But I did send her a package."

"What was in it?" Naminé subconsciously put her hand over her chest again.

"A necklace." he said sadly.

A necklace? "Oh." was all she could think of to say. Wherever it had been hiding, that piece of jewelry was long gone.

Sora nodded and then noticed her rubbing the spot above her flat stomach. "What's wrong?" he asked.

She looked down. "Oh." she said. "I... fell."

"You... fell?" he raised his eyebrows suspiciously.

"Well, kind of." she clarified. "Roxas and I... we both... _fell_."

Sora laughed. "What, did he like push you, or something?" then he saw her face. "Wait he _pushed_ you?" his smile fell.

Naminé squirmed. "Well, I mean he didn't really-"

"That's okay." he said. "I pushed Kairi off a dock back home once. She still has a scar on her leg, I think." he stared off reminiscently.

"Really?" Naminé was Kairi's cousin, and she never even noticed.

He nodded and his spikes flounced back into position perfectly.

"Hey." she leaned down until he was right next to his ear. "You know Roxas is watching your every move, right?" she whispered.

He laughed. "Doesn't surprise me."

"Hug me." she said, getting an idea. "See what he does."

Sora hugged her long and tight. Naminé saw Roxas stumble off of the crate and watch in what looked like a mix of disbelief and complete anger.

She let go. "Good times." she sighed.

"Take care of yourself." Sora waved to Naminé.

"You too." she flicked her wrist to say goodbye and then walked in the other direction back towards her car. Over her shoulder she saw Roxas walking with Sora, hand in his pockets, look of suspicion plastered on his face. She giggled.

When she got home she told Kairi about the necklace.

Kairi waved the knife in her face and Naminé screamed, ducking to the ground. "Please don't hurt me!"

"Well this _is_ all your fault." she fumed. "Why would you _throw_ it away?"

Naminé stood with caution. "I thought it was empty..."

Kairi pointed at her own chest. "Well now THIS is empty, Naminé. Is that what you wanted?"

Naminé slowly took the knife from Kairi's wavering hands, fearing for both their lives.

Kairi slammed the pineapple on the cutting board and threw her head in her hands. "This is ridiculous." she said.

Yes, it was. Naminé made sure to take the other knives before letting Kairi sit down at the table.

"I need sugar." Kairi moaned.

Naminé reached above the cupboard and grabbed a handful of chocolates, stashed there by Kairi in case of emergency breakdowns. Kairi unwrapped two and popped them in her mouth.

"These are stale." Kairi spit them out on the table and started crying.

Naminé put her hand on Kairi's head comfortingly. "No no... Don't cry..." she said.

"I don't know what to do!" Kairi replied through sobs.

"Maybe you should go talk to someone." she urged.

Kairi looked at Naminé like she had spit on her shoes. "What are you, a psychiatrist?" she yelled.

No, but it might help to see one.

Naminé sighed. "You know what I meant."

Kairi stood up and wiped tears away with the back of her hand. "I am _not_ going to talk to Sora. About anything." She resumed cutting with another knife she pulled out of a drawer. "So you can give up already."

Naminé rolled her eyes and walked out of the room, accepting that maybe Kairi needed help that was far beyond what Naminé could give.

* * *

Another bridge chapter. Just building up to other things... :)

Thanks to my reviewers :)


	12. Paint the sky with Stars

"Kairi, give it to me." Naminé held out her hand.

"No!" Kairi shouted and ducked behind the couch.

"Kairi, I'm serious!" Naminé kicked off her knee high boots and chased her around the living room, hand outstretched and grasping for the  
chocolate Kairi was holding. "You don't need anymore chocolate!"

Kairi pulled her hand away and chomped hard into the chocolate. "Mmmm." she said.

Naminé stood and said nothing. Then she slapped the rest out of Kairi's hand when she wasn't paying attention.

"Hey!" she screamed.

"No, Kairi. You need to get out of the house, _talk_ to Riku, and then Sora, and... stop eating. Stop eating, baking, crying, and screaming!" her voice raised to an unusual high.

Kairi almost looked intimidated, but slowly pulled another chocolate from her pocket and bit into it.

"No!" Naminé jumped over the couch and landed on top of Kairi, wrestling the candy out of her hand. "Give. It. To. Me!"

Kairi screamed. Naminé heard a door slam and she brushed her hair out of her eyes.

"Um..." Roxas stared, eyebrows arched, at Naminé on top of Kairi's  
back.

Kairi started laughing. "This looks weird, doesn't it?"

Roxas dropped a bag on the couch. "Only from this angle." he sat down.

"Get off." Kairi hissed at Naminé. Naminé dropped to the ground and walked over to Roxas, pulling her shirt dress down over her hips.

"What are you doing here?" she asked as she picked up random articles of clothing and Kairi's designer magazines, tossing them on the table.

Roxas put his feet on the ottoman. Naminé knocked them off. "I came to see you, actually." he smiled.

"Did you now." she said flatly. Kairi walked into the kitchen and started rifling around in the cupboards. Luckily Naminé had hidden all the house's supply of chocolate earlier that day.

"Is that a new shirt?" Roxas pointed to Naminé's top.

"Don't look at my shirt." she snapped. When she was frustrated at Kairi she usually took it out on Roxas. It was her favorite pastime.

Roxas smiled and looked down. "How is your cut?" he asked.

She sat down. "It's okay." she felt it with her hand.

He motioned to her wound. "May I...?" he asked.

"Uhh." She didn't try and hide her suspicious look, but carefully lifted up her shirt anyway, revealing the white bandaging. She peeled back the gauze. Roxas touched the stitches lightly with his fingers.

"They look reliable." he bit his lip.

"Thank you, Doctor." she pulled her shirt down and stood up again.

He stood up too. "Can I show you something?" he asked.

"What?" she said timidly. She heard Kairi squeak in disappointment as she dropped from the counter in the kitchen.

"Come with me." he grabbed her hand and one of her jackets from the couch.

"Where are we going?" she exclaimed as he dragged her through the house and out the door.

"A walk." he said and put his hands in the sleeves of his hoodie.

"_Oh no_." she put her hands in front of her. "I'm not in the mood to relive our last walk." she turned around.

He grabbed her wrist. "I know where we're going this time." he kept walking.

"Don't make me regret this, Roxas..." she sighed and tagged along behind, slipping her jacket over her shivering arms.

They both walked for awhile under the glow of the streetlights, so long that Naminé began to wonder where he could possibly be taking her. She made out the sea-salt ice shop, the chíc store where Kairi bought her clothes, and the furniture store in the dark, and each familiar place they passed Naminé felt farther and farther away from civilization.

"Are we almost there?" she chattered.

"Yeah." Roxas said, swinging his arms. "We're close."

Naminé closed her eyes and breathed in the fresh night air, ignoring the subtle but sharp pain in her chest that came along with inhaling. Naminé was a night owl. It felt really nice to be out at night, that is, when she wasn't bleeding and lost.

"Duck." Roxas put one arm above a huge crack in the Wall. The Wall was a giant thirty foot high slab of concrete that surrounded the entire town, and the crack had been there as long as Naminé could remember. It was barely big enough for someone to fit through, and Naminé remembered running back and forth through it as a child. She and Kairi would have so much fun whenever Kairi and her family visited from Destiny Islands. Naminé showed to Kairi the whole Square, and was proud of the fact that she knew so much of the town. Now, being familiar with the twisting, turning backstreet and tunnels, she could laugh at herself so long ago. When Kairi and Naminé were little Kairi would come back talking of her friend: a small, brave, brown-haired boy. Whenever she talked of him her eyes would sparkle brightly and she'd smile until she'd have to go home. Naminé didn't know at the time it was Sora, and it made her realize all the more just how unbreakable the bond was between the two, however little either of them would admit to disclose about it.

The crack made a path to the mansion; a large, abandoned tower of a house that lay at the end of a tree-top filled forest.

Naminé slipped through the hole, stretching out her chest, making it strain. "Ow." she said.

Roxas went through backwards, slipping through with his feet first. "You okay?" he asked as he dropped on the other side.

She felt her chest. "I think so..." she replied.

Roxas took her hand. "Let's go." he started pulling her through underneath the trees, leaves crunching under the weight of their steps.

"Seriously, where are you taking me?" she exclaimed.

He stopped and looked at her. The light of the moon illuminated his face. His eyes looked dark black. "Would you just wait?" he smiled.

They kept walking. Finally he helped her up a fallen log, and over a tiny hill towards the looming mansion.

"I am _not_ going in there." she said, pointing at it.

He laughed. "Neither am I." he said.

Out of nowhere Roxas plopped down on the manicured grass just outside the mansion.

"Here we go." he said.

She just stood over him. "I'm sorry?" she laughed.

He laid down and put his hands behind his head, spiky blonde hair fanning out over his face. "You said you like stars." he smiled. "Here's some real ones."

She followed Roxas' gaze to the wide sky, and gasped in amazement. Slowly without noticing she laid down beside him and stared at the sky.

It was speckled with stars. Millions and millions of them. Their bright and individual gleaming surfaces reflected across Roxas' face as she watched him survey the night sky, then she turned back and stared at them too.

"Is it better than glow in the dark?" he smirked.

She looked at him. "Yeah." she said. "It's much better."

He put his arm around her, but she didn't pull away. She stayed like that for so long, she lost track of time, and completely forgot she even had a cousin named Kairi, or that she was laying in the arms of the boy she used to love.

"It's beautiful." she said dreamily.

And it was.

* * *

Ohhkayy :) I hope you like this short little chapter. I do :)

P.S. Did you know Jesse McCartney's voice sounds _nothing_ like Roxas when he sings? I went and looked at his songs, hoping hearing Roxas' voice would make me happy. (I know I'm strange.) But... no. *sniff*

I think I'm going to go cry now.


	13. When you look at the World,

_Knock  
knock  
knock._

Someone rapped thrice on the front door, awaking Naminé from her sleep. She jolted awake with a jump and looked around, noticing that she had slept all night on the couch. She smoothed her hair as best she could and pinched some life into her cheeks. Not that it did anything, Naminé just couldn't stand the thought of answering the door after a relatively sleepless night on the living room couch.

The visitor knocked again. "Coming." she yelled. She padded across the carpet and flew open the door, expecting anyone but-

"Oh." she frowned. "It's you."

Riku grinned. "Where's Kairi?" he looked the same as he had about a week and a half ago. Same annoyingly conditioned, perfectly smooth hair; ego filled expression, and childish cocky smile.

"I would guess she's asleep." she rubbed her eyes. Her gaze fell upon the living room mantle clock. "After all, it is seven in the morning." she moaned. Her shoulders dropped. That means she'd only gotten about five hours of sleep, based on the time she and Roxas had gotten home and how much time she had laid awake thinking about it.

Riku shivered. "Can I come in?" he shoved his hands in his back pockets.

Naminé actually took a couple seconds to think about it. "I guess." she eventually sighed.

He rushed in and exhaled. "Warm." he sighed. "Much better."

Naminé considered sending him back outside.

"What time do you think she'll be awake?" Riku sat down and picked up one of Kairi's magazines. He flipped through a couple pages then threw it down. Then he picked up one of Roxas' old skating magazines that Naminé never bothered to do anything with.

"Well considering the sun came up mere hours ago..." she sat down on a different couch. "It could take hours." she yawned. "Days."

Riku looked confused. "Why?"

Naminé looked at him, dumbfounded. "She hasn't left the house for days. You know, since you've been ignoring her." She stated. That wasn't the only reason, but Naminé was choosing to keep it simple, for daft Riku's sake. Which meant dumbing it down so much it was barely understandable to anyone other than him. Naminé usually had to do this frequently.

He sighed and sat up, putting his elbows on his knees. "Listen,  
Naminé. Kairi is..." he struggled for a word. "Kairi is great. But..."

Naminé was silent, waiting for him to continue.

"She's just..." he looked towards Kairi's room cautiously. "_Presumptuious_." he whispered.

To be honest, Naminé was instantly shocked he even knew what that meant. In fact the only reason she knew was because she had used the exact same word to describe Kairi before.

"Psshh. Kairi isn't _pushy_." Naminé snickered. "Pushy? Come on. Kairi is bold. Outspoken. Audacious, even. But never pushy." she said.

Riku sat up. "Yeah but sometimes she's _too_ bold and outspoken. It's ridiculous." he shook his head.

"No, Riku, it's not." Naminé said, clearly uncomfortable with his words. "Kairi... is Kairi. You either take her and love her for who she is, or you don't." Naminé lowered her head. "Not many guys are right for her. Actually," she laughed, "I'm pretty sure there's only one."

Riku didn't pick up on the last part.

"You can't just like one aspect of Kairi." she laughed. "You just can't." she looked up in realization, suddenly understanding her confusing cousin after all this time. "That makes sense!" she shouted, more to herself than anything.

Riku just looked confused.

She turned to him. "Stop cheating on my cousin. And get out of my house." she stood up and opened the door.

He stood, his face obviously displaying guilt with an unsuccesful mask of innocence. "I don't know what you're-"

Naminé sighed. "Look, I have stuff to do." she waved her arm in front of the door.

"What?" he exclaimed.

"I have to find the one who loves all of her." she said.

Riku absentmindedly walked out the door. "Look," he shouted, "I didn't cheat on-"

"Consider this a breakup." she said, and slammed the door in his face.

"Roxas!" Naminé shouted.

In front of her Roxas turned around in the street. He smiled. "Hey." he flipped some messy blonde spikes out of his eyes.

"Where's Sora?" she practically shouted.

He frowned. "You know, this whole calling me in the street just to find Sora thing is really putting a dampen on my morale."

Naminé was so flustered she didn't even understand any of what he said. "Seriously." she sighed.

"Yeah, seriously."

"No, seriously, where is he?" she bunched up the sleeves of her navy sweatshirt, having completely forgotten that morning that the weather had returned to normal.

"At my house." he cocked his head. "Why?"

She smiled. "I just figured out how to solve the problem."

"Which problem?" he queried, as if there was more than one.

Naminé looked at him. "You know, the one with... Sora? And Kairi?"

He looked almost disapointed. "Oh." was all he said.

She started walking backwards. "Anyway, I'll talk to you later." She turned to leave.

"Wait." he pulled her back.

"What?" She said, impatient. He started saying words that weren't registering with her brain, and her thoughts started drifting. She  
started imagining Sora and Kairi getting along, which wasn't really much of a clear picture.

"Naminé!"

This snapped her out of her thoughts. She looked up.

Roxas put his hands on her shoulders and bent down to her height. (He was a considerable amount taller than she was) "What do you see?" he asked.

"Not following." she laughed nervously.

"When you look at the world, Naminé. What is it you see?" his eyes were matte and shiny at the same time, meaning he was serious. Naminé  
had seen that look before. Not often, but she had seen it.

She shifted uncomfortably underneath his grip. "What are you asking me?" she whispered.

He sighed loudly in frustration. She didn't understand why he was upset. He released her and ran his hand through his hair. "Is all you see other people's problems?" his voice started to rise.

She didn't know how to answer him; she was still puzzling over how this meaningless street conversation had turned into this. "Roxas..." she put her hand on his arm.

He pulled it back. "Seriously, Naminé. If all you see is everyone else's problems and how to fix them, how do you expect to fix your own?" he exclaimed.

Her own problems? "Roxas, I don't know-"

"Think on it." he mumbled and bent down to pick up his bag. Then he left Naminé in the middle of the street, mouth open to speak and hand  
still raised to stop him.

* * * * * * * * * * *

Naminé didn't go to see Sora. She had gone straight home to talk to Kairi, though she didn't know what she was hoping to accomplish with that either. Granted, Kairi couldn't possibly offer any words of advice, but to her credit she had been an extremely good listener.

"I mean, what is that even supposed to mean? Is it like a metaphor for something?" She put her head on the table. "He is so confusing."

"Wait." Kairi pulled her fork out of her fruit salad bowl. "He used a _metaphor_?"

"Yes." Naminé reiterated.

Kairi stood up. "Sorry, Naminé, but this is out of my area of expertise."

_That's right,_ Naminé thought. Kairi didn't understand metaphors.

"And anyway where did you two go last night?" she put her bowl in the sink. "I don't even remember you coming back." she winked.

Naminé arched her eyebrows. "Nowhere..." she said timidly.

"Which is an indirect lie for somewhere very important." she sat down, seemingly preparing for Naminé to spill.

"Kairi, nothing happened. I promise." she said. "Now help me. I've got bigger problems."

"I thought you said you didn't have any problems." Kairi tore open a package she got in the mail.

Naminé opened her mouth to reply but had nothing to say. It seemed... that Kairi was right, even though she definitely wasn't meaning to be. That was what Roxas was talking about. In a twisted, confusing sort of way... what Roxas said made sense. He was talking about _them_.

"Oh God..." she frowned.

Kairi turned to her, mouth biting the edge of her package as she tried to get it open. "What?" she asked, but it ended up sounding more like, "Uhht?"

"I need to go talk to him." she shouted and stood up.

Kairi squealed in excitement as she pulled a beautiful, star charmed necklace from the package. "It's from Riku!" she yelled breathlessly. "He wants me back!" she ran out of the room and down the hall.

Naminé didn't know what to think. She picked up the packaging and felt it with her hand, then walked over to the trash can and tossed the remains away. She almost turned to leave when something caught her eye. A silver flash caught the light of the sun through the window and reflected itself on the ceiling through tiny particles of light. She followed the path with her eyes and it brought her to the floor, right under an air conditioner vent. She dropped to her knees and peered through the slats. A tiny sliver of platinum caught her eye. She pinched it with her fingers and pulled it up. It was cold.

She held in front of her eyes a beautiful sterling silver necklace with a dainty and beautifully painted pink heart on the end. She gazed at it. It was the prettiest necklace she'd ever seen. In fact, it looked like it was _made _for_ Kairi._

She gasped. This was Sora's necklace. It must have dropped from the box when Naminé had thrown it away. She smiled, getting ready to give it to her.

Then she remembered. Kairi already had a necklace.

Naminé leaned against the wall, turning the silver over in her hands. She didn't know what to do. She had already tried telling Riku. Now she knew she needed to tell Kairi.

"One issue at a time." she said to herself and, clutching the necklace in her hand, walked out of the house.

She almost felt content as she walked to Roxas' house. The sun felt okay and less warm on her sleeved arms. She even passed her fountain and made a wish again, this time wishing for something different.

When she got to Roxas' house she didn't knock, but walked right in. "Roxas?" she called to the visibly empty house. There was no answer.

She grasped the stair wood rail and padded up the beige carpet stairs, two at a time. She turned into Roxas' room at the top, never really forgetting her way around his house.

Suddenly a flashback hit her.

"Roxas?" She had called. "Where are you?" She walked timidly from his bedroom to his hall, still navigating it for the first time.

She peeked around a corner. "...Roxas?"

"Ahh!" he jumped out from behind her, hands outstretched. She screamed and fell to the ground, where he held onto her back. "Got you."

"Oh my God, what is wrong with you!" she half screamed, half laughed; hands over her mouth.

He bent down to her, smiling. "You get scared to easily." he said.

"Yeah?" she pulled him by the front of his shirt to her face. "Well you..." she whispered, "You get _distracted_!" and pushed him to the ground, standing up.

"Hey." he laughed.

"Got _you_." she breathed and put her foot on his stomach.

He smiled. "Damn." he said.

"Yes, well." she flipped her hair out of her eyes. "Maybe if you-"

When she was talking he snatched her foot and she fell on top of him. "Augh!" she fell with a thud.

"Maybe if _you_ were less distracting." he sighed, then leaned over and kissed her.

Naminé stopped thinking of the intruding memories and walked into Roxas' bedroom, sitting on his bed. Her eyes traveled sadly over Roxas' shelves, his brilliantly bright golden window panes, and finally on his revolving blue globe with rotating fish she always  
marveled over and he would get embarrassed. She always liked his room. It reminded her of someplace she always wanted to be. It was cozy and warm and always bright. She loved it.

Her fingers brushed along his cork board above his desk. He had pictures of him and his skateboard and of him doing tricks. There were grainy photos of him and his old friends taken such a long time ago. He even kept the picture he had of Kairi's pen painted face, the result of her falling asleep at one of their late night movie parties. Naminé had the same picture. She smiled when she noticed a couple of silly pictures of herself, Axel and Demyx. They reminded her of how good of friends they used to be.

She came across one last one, just of them. It was a nice picture. The sun was streaming in behind them just right and her hair was perfectly fanned around her face. Her expression looked like she was caught of guard, but still smiling like she had never smiled before. He was looking at her and smiling brightly. "Huh." she pulled it from the board, looking at it then turning it over. On the back it just read, Naminé, in Roxas' familiar slanted writing. Naminé went to put it back smiling, happy he had kept at least something of her after all this time.

"Naminé?" someone said from beside her.

She screamed and the picture flew into the air. A hand reached out and caught it. It was Sora's. He was standing in the doorway, leaning against the frame and looking it the photo. "Nice picture." he said, and handed it back.

She took it cautiously and pinned it down. Then she looked at him. "Where's Roxas?" she pulled her arms behind her back.

"Gone." Sora stared at her, but he didn't look at her. "Left a couple hours ago."

Naminé shifted. "When will he be back?"

Sora sighed. "Beats me. Maybe a week or two."

A week? "Wait." she shook her head. "_Where_ did he go?"

He walked to the middle of the room and stared at a piece of paper in his hand. "Hollow Baaasteion." he squinted at the writing.

"Hollow Bastion." she furrowed her eyes and walked over to him.

"He left this for you. I was going to find you tomorrow but seeing as you're already here..." he handed her an unopened porcelain envelope, Naminé's name on the front.

"Anyway." Sora sighed and walked out of the room, not finishing his thought. He absentmindedly turned off the light.

Naminé looked at the paper, lit aglow by the light of Roxas' blue globe. Carefully she tore off the top and pulled a small scrap of paper from the inside.

It read:

_Naminé,_

_I'm visiting a friend in Hollow Bastion. Sorry for the short notice. _  
_Tell Sora not to eat all of my food._  
_Keep thinking about it. You can tell me when I get back._

_Roxas_

There was the faintest trace of a half erased heart in the corner. She touched the spot with her fingers.

"Tell him when be gets back..." she thought aloud. But the problem was, when she looked at the world, she had no idea what she saw.

* * *

_When you look at the world,_  
_What is it that you see?_

I can't wait any longer.  
I can't wait 'till I'm stronger.  
Can't wait any longer,

To see what you see...  
When I look at the world.


	14. Unhappy Ends

Kairi glanced underneath Naminé's fallen face. "You miss him, don't you?" she sympathized.

Naminé looked up and twirled her hair subconciously. "No." she said.

"Yes." Kairi insisted and turned a corner.

"_No_. I miss-"

"Him."

"I miss talking to him. And walking with him." she clarified.

"So by your definition... you miss him." Kairi said.

"Nevermind, Kairi." Naminé sighed. She put her head back on the seat of the car and closed her eyes. "Nevermind."

"You know you should really start thinking about what he told you." Kairi stated.

Naminé put her hand in the air. "I know, Kairi. I _have_ been thinking."

"I am _just_ saying." she defended.

"Where are we going?" Naminé sat up in the passenger seat.

"Riku's." she said nonchalantly.

_Uh oh._ "Let me out." Naminé unbuckled her belt.

"What? Why?" Kairi skidded to a stop in the middle of the street, jerking the both of them forward. Naminé looked around the street. There was nobody in front of them, or behind them. In fact, if you lived in Twilight Town, you pretty much walked everywhere. Unless of course you were Kairi.

"Why are we driving?" Naminé had asked as Kairi had grabbed her keys earlier.

"Please." Kairi had scoffed. "I'm not Roxas."

Naminé hadn't even bothered to explain to Kairi what she had really meant. The reference to Roxas had, to the outside eye, been about the fact that Roxas walked everywhere. However, Naminé knew Kairi was just mentioning him to be mean about the fact he was gone. A Kairi tactic.

"I do not want to see him." Naminé recollected her prior encounter with Riku, where he had become privy to information regarding he and Kairi's breakup, which had never actually occored.

"Why?" Kairi slapped her hand on the steering wheel.

Naminé almost told her by accident. By a miracle she managed to close her mouth after the first syllable. "I just..." she started.

"You just?" Kairi tapped impatiantly on the dash, not moving the car unless she absoulutely had to.

"Kairi..." Naminé sat up and looked at her cousin. "There is something you need to know. I've been trying to tell you for awhile."

Kairi raised her eyebrows.

"Riku-" Naminé began.

There was a honk. A loud, long bleep. Both of the girls jumped up and Kairi let out a little squeak. Naminé turned around. "Someone's behind you." she said over her shoulder.

Kairi started the car and kept driving, keeping her eyes trained on the narrow road.

They drove the rest of the way in silence, talking only the four or six times Kairi asked how she looked. When they got to Riku's house, Kairi rushed in and gave him a huge hug, as Riku glared at Naminé over Kairi's back.

She stuck her tongue at him.

Riku had two of his friends over. They were introduced as Tidus and Wakka, two blonde boys. The one called Tidus was handsome. Kairi kept trying to get Naminé to talk to him. But she didn't feel like talking too much. She only came to stay with Kairi, anyway.

The whole time they just played games and watched movies. She wasn't sure if it could have been classified as a party, but she didn't have any fun either way. Naminé didn't feel like hanging out with them, so she just drew in the corner. As she was looking up to stretch her neck she saw Kairi sitting on the couch by herself. She had been acting weird for hours; she was half-heartedly laughing at jokes and pulling away when Riku tried to kiss her. Tidus and Wakka were throwing some sort of ball around the room and Riku was getting drinks in the kitchen. Naminé looked around then switched couches to talk to Kairi.

"Hey." she closed her sketchbook. "What's up?"

Kairi aknowledged ber presence a little too late. "Hm?" she looked up. Her expression was confused and left out. She looked like Naminé felt: like she didn't belong.

"Why are you sitting here by yourself?" Naminé asked her.

Kairi looked at the boys. "Just a little tired." she sighed.

Naminé knew very well Kairi was not tired. She could tell when Kairi was tired. It was the one of the rare times she would leave Naminé alone.

"Kairi..." Naminé sat closer.

"Yeah." Kairi ran her hand across her cheek, smearing some of her makeup. "Tired."

"I don't think you're just tired." Naminé laughed.

Kairi looked at her, glossy hair falling in her face. "I know." she said.

Naminé sat back in the couch. "Wanna go home?" she whispered. "Watch a movie or something?"

Kairi's face lit up and she smiled brightly. "Yeah." she said.

Naminé jumped up. Wakka's blitzball hit her in the back of the head. "_Mmm_." she rubbed the back of her neck and Kairi laughed.

"See? You're laughing at my pain." Naminé clapped. "You're feeling better." she extended her hand to Kairi.

Kairi took it and got up. They gathered their things and walked to the door.

"Where are you guys going?" Tidus took one in the arm from Riku.

"To have fun." Kairi shouted.

Tidus just shrugged and they left. Riku didn't ask why they were leaving.

As they were one their way home Kairi said, "Sorry I couldn't hook you and Tidus up." she laughed.

"Don't worry about it." Naminé chuckled. "He's not for me."

Kairi stepped on the gas around a corner. Out of fear for her life Naminé grabbed the side handle.

Kairi pulled a piece of hair out of her lip gloss. "No, I mean I really couldn't. He has a girlfriend. Her name is_ Yuna_ or something." she shrugged.

"Yuuuuuuuuuna." Naminé emphasized each syllable in the girl's name. No wonder Roxas did it. It was fun. She giggled.

The whole way home Naminé and Kairi took turns making fun of this innocent girl's name. They said it in so many tones and voices and were laughing so hard Kairi almost crashed twice.

"No wait, I've got one." Kairi snicker-shouted. "Yuuuna!" she adopted an annoying British accent. "Timmme for teea, Yuuuna!"

Naminé laughed. "Oh wait what about- _Kairi, look out!_" she pointed straight ahead to the road.

Kairi slammed on the brake and screamed. The car skidded to a slow stop, right before it almost crashed into someone.

Once they had stopped moving Naminé uncovered her eyes and looked up. In front of the car, looking absoulutely unfazed by near death, was Sora. He was looking at Kairi with a half- smile, half- terrified expression.

Sora walked over to Kairi's side of the window and leaned in. "You two shouldn't be able to drive." he sighed with a smile.

Kairi was still breathing so hard she couldn't speak. Not that she would have said anything anyway.

"Sorry..." Naminé said with wide eyes.

"It's cool." he drummed with his fingers on the car door. "So you missing Roxas?" he smirked at Naminé.

She wasn't until he said that. "No..." she said timidly.

"Right." he smirked again. "Anyway," he stood up. "Don't kill anyone." he waved to both of them while looking at Kairi.

Neither of them said anything. All Naminé could hear was her heart, which was still racing.

Kairi turned to her. "He smells really nice." she whispered.

Naminé took a moment to process what Kairi said. Kairi, compliment, Sora. None of those words together made much sense to her.

"Let's go home." Naminé sat back and closed her eyes. Kairi started driving, and neither of them talked the whole ride home.

"This one?" Kairi held up the movie.

Naminé glanced at the cover. "Too dramatic."

"Yeah." she dug around in the cabinet. "Uhh... what about this one?"

Naminé shook her head. "Too funny."

Kairi put it back. "Okay..." she sifted through them again. "Oh, oh, this one!" she jumped up and one of her slippers fell off. She pushed the movie in Naminé's face.

Naminé squinted to read the title. "Too happy." she crinkled her nose.

"Okay, _seriously_?" Kairi laughed and smacked the video on the coffee table.

"I'm sorry." Naminé sighed. "Put on what you'd like." she twirled Kairi's heart necklace around her finger.

"Okay, I'll-" Kairi stopped and looked at Naminé's hands. "What's that?" she asked.

Naminé pulled it off of her finger. "Just... just a necklace." she smiled convincingly. She hadn't given it to Kairi yet, she was waiting for something that seemingly wouldn't come.

"It's beautiful!" Kairi fingered the bright pink shellacked silver. "Wow." her eyes sparkled.

"It's... It's yours." Naminé handed it to her, smiling herself at the grin on Kairi's illuminated face.

"Seriously? Who's it from?" she put it on and admired the way it  
looked from the mantle mirror.

Naminé thought about telling her the truth. After all, she wasn't going to lie. But she saw how happy Kairi was right now, so again she said nothing, but tried to change the subject.

"What are we watching?" she held her breath, hoping Kairi would forget her question.

Kairi didn't answer for several seconds. She was still looking in the mirror when she pointed to a video on the floor. "That one."

Naminé jumped up and put in the movie. "C'mon, Kairi." Naminé urged. Naminé didn't like movies. She would normally just draw whatever came to mind and that could keep ber entertained. However, since Kairi couldn't draw to save her life, Naminé had to reach out to her through Kairi's way. And that meant watching movies. Sad ones.

From what Naminé could tell, the film centered around a girl, struggling with her decisions in life. When her love moves away and her father dies, she's left by herself. There was some sort of morale to the story, but Naminé didn't catch it. Partly because she wasn't paying attention but mostly because right after the girl's love left her, she started crying. And crying. And... crying.

"Naminé, seriously." Kairi patted Naminé's head consolitorialy. "Please stop."

"I-I can't." Naminé sobbed. "I'm sorry."

"Don't aplogize for crying." Kairi exclaimed. "Just _stop_!"

That made her even more upset. She didn't even understand what brought this sudden onset of tears. She couldn't place it. When she had finally calmed down, she just laid her head on Kairi's shoulder.

"Kairi, I'm a mess." she sniffled.

Kairi closed her eyes. "So am I." she sighed.

Naminé looked at the screen; hopeful the storyline would come through for her. But just like Kairi's periodic attempts at drawing... it didn't end happily.

* * *

I thought this was a nice little cousin bonding chapter over making fun of people's names. FINAL FANTASY REFERENCE FTW! Huzzah!

By the way I actually really like Yuna. I do not think her name is funny. But they do ^ 

Thank you to everyone who reads :)


	15. Mad World

"I don't see how it matters anymore." Naminé hung over the side of her bed, her blonde hair cascading down the side of her mattress like a  
golden waterfall. She thought she looked really elegant and dramatic the way she was laying by herself. Like some fallen angel forced to spend the rest of life on earth. She felt her back pop and flinched at the sound. It brought her out of her digressive daydream.

She sat up and stared at the wall. "Why nooooot, Naminé?" she adopted the very best Roxas voice she could muster.

She laid on her pillow, kicking off her shoes. "Kairi is confused. I think she thinks about Sora. Maybe she misses him. But she seems to not want to let go of what she has with Riku." she poured.

She sat up again. "Hmm. Maybe she's afraid of Sora?"

"No, no that cannot be it." she plopped down again. "Otherwise she wouldn't have told me she loved him a couple weeks ago." she thought. "Besides, why would she be afraid?"

_"Rejection."_

Naminé thought over that. "How did Sora break her heart?" She wondered.

_"Ask."_

Naminé kicked her feet in the air. "I can't. Kairi would not tell me." she mumbled.

_"Ask Sora."_

She perked her head up. "Sora. I'll ask Sora." she smiled. "Brilliant."

Naminé lay back and closed her eyes. "Please come back, Roxas." she said to the air. She was getting a little tired of talking to herself, but the Roxas in her mind had no answer.

Is that the only reason? It said after awhile.

"Yes!" she yelled defensively and shot up. "Why else would I...But she stopped to think about it. Maybe she did miss him for other reasons. Maybe she missed seeing him. And making fun of him; telling him to go away. She missed him taking her places and making her feel happy. Without Roxas, there was a huge hole that she couldn't seem to fill when he was gone. Kairi could fill it temporarily. But not enough to last. And maybe even being around Sora satisfied her desire to see him, occasionally. Sora and Roxas looked so much alike. But even she couldn't deny how much she wanted to see Roxas' familiar blue eyes.

"I need you to stop talking to yourself for a minute." Kairi sauntered outside Naminé's room.

Naminé sighed and jumped up, running to Kairi's room. "Yes?" she walked in.

Kairi put her hands on her hips. Her gold bangles fell to the very end of her wrist with a melodic jingling sound. She looked down at her bed, about six different outfits were mixed and matched on the covers. "What do you think?"

"I think you need a bigger bed. Or less choices." she rubbed her fingers through a silky cami and brushed her hand over cold sequins on a sparkly skirt. "What are these for?" she asked, noticing that these particular ensembles were a little more fancy for a regular day.

Kairi sighed and rubbed her forehead. "I'm meeting someone to talk." she said.

"Okay..." Naminé said slowly. "Who?"

"Naminé, please just pick one." she replied impatiantly, ignoring Naminé's inquiry altogether.

This may have been right down Kairi's area of expertise, but Naminé was already lost. She remembered barely making it mentaly through Kairi's big date with Riku awhile ago. Her idea of an ideal outfit for just about anything was a flowy top with shorts or jeans. Kairi's  
style was over the top for her. Her eyes started travelling over the materials and her mind blended them together until it was a huge blur of sparkles and colors. She rubbed her eyes. "I don't know." she said.

"Nevermind, just go... talk to your wall again." she shooed her out of the room with a leather handbag.

"Goodness." Naminé rushed out, protecting her face. It seemed Kairi had to be feeling at least _a little_ better, seeing as she was back to the same old routine of either ignoring Naminé or verbally abusing her.

Only a couple minutes of drawing in her room had proven to be almost difficult for Naminé; her consciousness dwindling rapidly. Her mind kept escaping her head and soaring out of the window, flying all the way to Hollow Bastion and waiting. Not only did she have a hard time concentrating on keeping it, it was also proving difficult to bring back. She was in the middle of some far-off daydream where Roxas had shown up unexpectedly at her door when she heard Kairi's footsteps in the hall. She looked down at her paper, finding it completely blank. She sighed and put it away, accepting that she wasn't going to get any productive art done today.

Kairi was in the living room when Naminé walked down the stairs to see her. She smiled tentatively as Naminé inspected her choice: a flowery dress that popped against her olive skin. "Do I look okay?" she asked.

"Yes." Naminé smiled. "For harmless talking." she crossed her arms and looked at her cousin with big eyes.

Kairi looked away. "I'm not telling you."

Well that didn't work.

Kairi stuffed a handful of purple wrapped decadent chocolates in her purse. They fell out the sides when she threw it over her shoulder.

"Kairi!" Naminé picked them up off the ground and went to take Kairi's purse.

She pulled it away. "I need them!" she shouted. Her eyes were side glancing at her purse.

"Kairi." Naminé cocked her head disapprovingly.

Kairi looked irritated but handed them over with a huff"I almost hate that you're responsible." she snatched her bag and shuffled to the door in her strappy heels. Her gold bangled arm flung the door open and it hit the wall with a resounding thud, creating a golf-ball sized hole in the wood.

"That's why your parents put me in charge!" Naminé yelled to Kairi down the driveway.

Kairi slammed her car door and drove off down the street for her answer.

Naminé sighed and walked back inside the empty house, bending down to inspect the damage Kairi and her anger had inflicted on their unsuspecting wall.

"I'm sorry." she apologized on Kairi's behalf.

"For what?" someone said.

She gasped. Had her mind really began to answer her? Was she dreaming? Then her mind imagined the worst: Had Kairi come back?

She turned around and breathed out a small sigh of relief. "It's you. Thank God."

Sora looked concerned, but in a compassionate way instead of that she's-completely-lost-it look she sometimes recieved from Kairi. "Are you okay?" he asked.

"What?" she looked up at him, then stood, realizing she was still on the ground. "Of course." she tried to regulate her blood pressure to normalize her flushed face.

Sora nodded. "You just looked a little terrified." he tried to explain why he asked.

She waved it away. "It's fine. Sit down?" she motioned to the couch.

He shook his head. "That's okay. I'm on my way somewhere, actually." he beamed for some unclear reason.

"Right." she kept her eyes on his happy face. To be truthful, it was starting to rub off on her dark and strange attitude. She looked away when it started to hurt.

"I just came to tell you something." he smiled again.

She looked him expectantly. He just smiled back at her. "Yes?" she said after awhile.

"Oh." he relayed the message she had already recieved from the envelope, but added that Roxas told him his date of return was now unknown.

She nodded, knowing the first part already. "Thanks." she stopped when he said the part about not knowing Roxas' return. That meant... it would be that much longer of that repetitive talking to herself.

"I'd better go." Sora said. "It appears I'm too happy for you right now."

She sighed. "I've already been exposed."

"Then smile." he took his own advice and walked out of the house.

Smile... Naminé tried. She watched herself in the mirror but just looked like some delinquent hyped up on sugar. Like Ollete.

The rest of the day passed slowly for Naminé. Nobody came to visit, not that she would have been much of great company anyway. Kairi was nowhere to be seen ever since she left. Naminé's mind started to explore the options of who she could possibly be with. Riku was out. Kairi and Riku had done barely more than exchange phone calls for over a day. She thought she could be with friends from her hometown, maybe Selphie or Tidus. However, they were disregarded as soon as Naminé remembered Kairi didn't know Selphie had come with Sora. Also, Tidus and Wakka had only been stopping by during a pro-blitzball tour. The other possibilities were too impossible to even consider, so Naminé just stopped debating it.

She wasn't in the mood to draw or write. She was too tired to go for a walk. She was even too down to get up and eat. In fact sometime in the evening she just started to feel lonely. She wrapped herself in a fluffy white blanket and sat on a chair in her balcony. The bright and blazing sun didn't warm her up or give her life, so she just sat there and stared at the street. As much as Kairi got on her nerves, Naminé dreaded being alone.

As the sun started to sink over the horizon Naminé's chest started to tighten and hurt, no doubt from her cut. She laid down on her bed,  
still in her clothes. After some restless turning and writhing, she eventually slipped off into sleep.

Her daydreams were nothing like the ones at night. During the day, if her dreams went bad, she would focus on one aspect of daily life and make herself wake up. Maybe a rustling white bird outside her window or Kairi's hum. However, due to the lack of noise at night and the fact that she was all alone, she had a difficult time escaping her dreams whence they turned bad.

Her nightterrors seemed to last forever, despite an inevitable passage of time. She found herself running and running through endless chasms and labyrinths, stopping to help up fallen comrades, and falling closer into the hands of her dark pursuer as she did. She was running and losing breath faster with each person she helped up, and all but a few of them walked the other direction once she saved them. A few, maybe three, stayed behind her and helped her run whilst the others gave no notice. She got to the end of the world each time she ran for awhile, the dark swallowing up every part of the land behind her. A big, beautiful ball of light hovered gracefully in the galaxy above her. Every time she jumped up to grab on she missed, and started falling back even farther into the darkness...

"Naminé!" someone called her name and she was jolted awake. She sat up in the dark and unseeingly peered through the black blanket of light.

Someone switched on Naminé's bedside lamp. "Naminé!"

Naminé rubbed her eyes. Kairi was standing over her bed, frowning concernedly. "You were having a nightmare." she said.

Naminé pulled the white blanket off of herself. Her hair was plastered around her face. She pulled it away.

Kairi walked over and shut Naminé's open window. "Uh.." she glanced back at Naminé, clearly unsure of how to console her. She came over  
and patted her head. "Go back to sleep, dearie." she tried.

Oh yes. Kairi was going to make a fantastic mother.

"You can stop now." Naminé said, as Kairi was still patting her.

"Thank you." Kairi said quickly and rushed out of the room, flicking off the light.

Naminé smiled, her hole slightly filled again. She laid back down, knowing it would be gone by tomorrow. For the first time, she fell asleep not knowing what was going to happen in the morning.

* * *

Naminé is having quite the hard time without him...

Side note: Goodness my stories bash on everyone! Haha. I love Ollete too, even though she can occasionally look like a delinquent hyped up on sugar :)  
I _do not_, however, like it when people say that she and Roxas should be "together" or whatever. She belongs with Hayner, obviously. And Roxas belongs with Naminé! What don't people understand about that? I mean, what-?

Ugh I need to go lie down.


	16. A Cloudy Day

After yet another sleepless night, Naminé trudged wearily through the market, exhausted and drained. Her being there had solved the battle with a grouchy Kairi that morning on who would get up and buy food for the apartment. Naminé had given in, just like she always did. She had an annoying, innate inability to never say no to Kairi. It always seemed to surface when it was most inconvenient for Naminé. Like today.

She grabbed anything that was on the basic list Kairi scribbled out, "accidentally" forgetting to pick up more chocolate. It was a small evil thing to do, but it made Naminé feel a little better.

"For the best." she passed the aisle confidently.

Wherein she proceeded to grab anything and everything she supposed they needed, crumpling up the list altogether. As she was traipsing through the frozen foods aisle and reaching for some juice, she pulled her hand back quickly. Down next to a colorfully packaged milk carton was a hand, a big, muscular hand adorned with an odd number of all-too familiar silver rings.

She stood up tall and looked down at the bin. "Cloud Strife." she smiled.

A tall, spiky blonde haired boy jumped noisily from the overflowing bin of cold beverages, dropping a couple of energy drinks on the ground where they exploded with a pop, releasing their fizzy contents onto the white stone. The boy stretched his arms wide in preparation for a big hug, one which Naminé was happy to deliver.

When she was released she pulled back from her longtime friend beaming. "What were you doing?" she motioned to the disheveled mess of upturned and emptying cartons and cans.

"Did I scare you?" the older boy laughed and wiggled his ring-clad fingers in front of Naminé's happy face. She pushed them down.

"Not exactly..." she smiled, then thought of what Cloud could possibly be doing here. The handsome, protective, outspoken but still quiet Cloud Strife had gone his very own way after high school, barely telling a soul where he was planning on going. He was a little older than Naminé, surpassing her age by about three or four years. However, he had always taken a specific liking to her and Roxas; her in particular. In fact, he and his then girlfriend Tifa had been the ones to set up Roxas and Naminé in the first place. Cloud bore a striking and unusual resemblance to Roxas, even more than Sora did. Naminé always imagined Roxas looking exactly like Cloud in half a decades time, and her suspicions were confirmed as she stood and looked at Cloud for the first time in about two years.

"What are you doing here?" she asked him. She looked him up and down, almost mistaking him for Roxas again.

He poked her in the arm. "To see you of course. Now let's go somewhere else." he pulled her towards the market exit.

"Why?"

"Before someone sees that." he motioned to the mess he had made.

They walked for a ways down the street. Naminé looked over and noticed that Cloud had stopped growing, she was now about the same size as him, take a few inches. It was a pleasant change from awhile ago when she had to crane her neck to see his face.

He caught her looking and smiled. "I look like him more, don't I?" he said.

She snapped her head forward and blushed wildly. Truth be told, the last thing she wanted was to give Cloud the wrong idea. She liked him very much, but he had always been a brother figure to Naminé. He had always been extremely over-protective of her in high school, even after he had graduated. She was always the stock of much gossip in school, hanging out with the most popular and handsome boy. However, despite their age difference, Naminé and Cloud had just been very great friends. Perhaps it was because the two had so much in common. Quiet, caring, and gentle. For the most part. "Who?" she asked him in return.

He laughed. "Roxas, 'course."

She knew answering yes would just deepen the conversation, so she said nothing, but offered a faint half-smile.

Not that it mattered. "Where is he?" Cloud kicked the ground with his  
foot.

Naminé played dumb, hoping by some miracle of God something would hit  
Cloud in the head, rendering them incapable of finishing the  
conversation. "Who?" she widened her eyes in innocence.

"_Roxas_." he answered and hit her in the head. "You sure you passed high school?"

She ducked his blow. "I'm sorry." she laughed.

"It's okay." he put his hands in his pockets. "So as an answer to my question...?"

"What question?" Naminé asked.

"You got more annoying." he snickered and pushed her arm with his.

Naminé tried to come up with something intelligent and witty to counter with, but got nothing. She knew in awhile she would think of it about four hours too late then inevitably end up hating herself.

"So, where's Roxas? I thought he might be wherever you were." he laughed.

Naminé only looked away. "He's uhm... In Hollow Bastion." she lifted her head to the sky, willing her tears to stay in her head. She saw fluffy gray clouds spreading their way over the tops of the buildings and stretching out over the sky, completely covering the orange and  
yellow sunset. She hoped they would stay... maybe bring rain. She longed for a good, cleansing rain.

"Why?" Cloud jumped in front of Naminé and started walking  
backwards.

"OhmyGod, don't do that." Naminé cried and jumped in between him and the oncoming walls. He stopped.

"I'm sorry?" he tried to apologize.

She sighed and leaned against a creme wall. "It's fine."

Cloud leaned next to her. "Are you alright?" he asked, genuine concern in his voice.

She tried to smile. "Were done." she said, coming dangerously close to tears, realizing that she'd never really said it aloud before. Saying it out loud seemed to make it finally and completely true, and suddenly the whole thing hit her hard.

Cloud seemed to understand without need of any explanation. His face just fell apologetically, and a bit of the color drained from his face. "Naminé..."

She wiped a tear from her cheek and nodded. "Yes..." she sighed, keeping her gaze to the asphalt.

"Hey." Cloud lifted her face to look her in the eyes. "Hey..."

She looked at him and another tear escaped her eye. His face was stock full of care and understanding.

He spoke but his features became blurry and obsolete as Naminé's vision became more and more obstructed by her tears. "What happened?"  
he asked slowly.

Naminé shook her head, more tears falling off her face. "I don't even know." She realized that out of all her friends (and Kairi), Cloud and  
Roxas were the only ones she could talk to. And now she was talking to one about the other.

Cloud pulled her in for a hug. Naminé melted into Cloud's friendly embrace. She had been waiting for someone that could make her feel better, and Cloud, as usual, came at just the perfect time.

When he let go Cloud brushed away Naminé's remaining tears and pulled her up, putting his arm around her shoulder and steering her down the street. "Why is he in Hollow Bastion?" he asked her after awhile.

"Visiting a friend, I suppose." she shrugged. "I'm not really sure."

He thought about it, and after awhile perked up his head. "Xion." he said.

Naminé looked at him. "Who?"

He saw her expression and relaxed his face like it was no big deal. "Just his friend."

She wasn't sure, but Naminé almost recalled someone by that name. It was not a common one. She ignored her thoughts and kept walking.

"Ah well. Who needs him?" Cloud tried to smile.

Naminé looked at him with a mix of shock and horror on her face, then burst into tears.

"Damn!" Cloud cursed himself. "I'm sorry, Naminé." he tried to console  
her.

She sniffed and waved his hand away. "It's alright." she wiped the small sea of tears with the top of her layered white dress.

Cloud kept his eyes on the ground, cursing with every step under his breath.

Eventually Cloud lead Naminé to her apartment. She was impressed that he still knew his way around Twilight Town after his time away. He walked her to the door where he stood and looked at her expectantly.

"Tifa and I aren't dating anymore." he said as Naminé was putting her key in the door. She dropped it on the ground with a small plink, and looked at him.

He looked unusually happy as he stood there and rolled on the heels of his shoes. "Yep."

"What do you mean?" Naminé squeaked. She felt the tears coming on again.

"We're engaged." he said nonchalantly.

Naminé stared straight ahead. She'd heard, but she hadn't understood.

"Yeah, I uh... asked her to marry me." he beamed.

Naminé took a few moments to process the information, but when she did all she could do was smile. The first thought that ran through her head was his age: she was pretty sure he wasn't that old. But she did the math quickly in her head and figured he was around twenty-two or twenty-three. Plus, she knew for a fact he and Tifa had always been in love since the day they met. And if they loved each other, how young they were didn't really matter, in Naminé's mind.

"That is so wonderful!" Naminé hugged him. "Seriously."

He smiled. "That's why I'm here. To invite you to the wedding. You and Roxas." suddenly he remembered and his face returned to the severely apologetic one of before.

She waved it away. "We're friends. I think." she nodded. "It's okay."

He smiled broader. "Great, I'll write him."

Naminé smiled. "I'm very happy for you." she said.

"Thanks." Cloud beamed. "So am I." the wind blew his hair in front of his sparkling eyes.

"Would you like to come in?" Naminé offered, picking up her key and unlocking the door.

Cloud peered inside. "Is Kairi in there?" he asked.

"Well I think so, but-"

"Kay then, I'll see you later." he said quickly.

"Good call." she laughed.

Cloud started walking down the street. "I'll bring you an invitation on my way home tomorrow." he called.

"Wait!" she cried and waved her hand.

He turned around.

"Funny question." she called.

"Shoot."

"When you look at the world, what do you see?" She didn't even think about it, she just asked him. It probably sounded ridiculous, but she needed to know his answer.

He smiled the oh-my-god-she's-crazy smile. "Excuse me?" he said.

"Please." she laughed.

Cloud thought about it. Then a huge smile spread across his face. "Tifa." he said.

"Yes." she said, half paying attention. "Thanks." and turned to walk in the apartment.

"Naminé." Cloud stopped in the street and yelled to her. She turned around. "It'll be okay." he smiled. "I promise."

She offered a small sliver of a smile to Cloud, then he backed up and walked down the street until he was out of Naminé's sight.

"God I hope so." she sighed and looked at the sky, expecting to see the rare white clouds that were there moments before. Her smile fell as she walked into her house. Her beautiful clouds were long gone, swept off with the wind to some other distant world that perhaps needed them more.

* * *

I'm on a writing roll! (You all know bringing in Cloud was going to happen sooner or later ;))

Good news: I figured out my ending to this story and it is sooooooo good. I don't want to be all braggy but I really really love it. So, even if you guys are not consoled with the fact that I'm pretty much making this up as I go along, you can at least know that I know the perfect ending.

Also, I'm baaack! From my trip. I missed writing on here... Sorry I couldn't upload for four days. It hurt me as much as it might have possibly maybe hurt you, I swear.

Hope you like it :)

(P.S.) I do not actually play final Fantasy. Is Cloud supposed to be with Aerith? Tifa? Leon (haha)? I have no idea.


	17. Love

"I am not _invited_?" Kairi screamed with rage as she re-read the entire letter for the fourth time, as if somehow her name would appear magically on the invite the more she looked at it. "What is going _on_?"

Naminé pinched the letter between her fingers and pulled it back towards her. "Maybe it is because you have no idea who they are." A small pile of gold dust that was caked on the letter fell to the ground and settled in a neat pile.

"I still like weddings." Kairi mumbled.

"I'll only be gone for a couple days." Naminé put the letter back on the table.

Kairi stomped her foot. The flurry of sparkles shot into the air. "Naminé! Please."

"Please what?" Naminé bent down and scooped the dust in her hand.

"Could I come?" Kairi asked hopefully.

Naminé looked up. "You would like to come to Cloud's wedding?" she asked, skeptical.

"Please?" Kairi's face was full of hope. The kind of hope that was hard to crush even with a harmless _no_. Especially since it was Kairi.

Naminé sighed. "I can _ask_ if you-"

"Thank you!" Kairi attacked Naminé in a death grip hug. "I cannot stay here by myself. Thank you." she repeated.

Naminé couldn't help but smile. She'd rather go with Kairi than by herself, even if it meant facing Cloud to ask.

"Right, I'm going to go catch him before he leaves." Naminé grabbed her bag from the hook. Before she opened the door she glanced to something bright and silver hanging gracefully from Kairi's dainty neck. She bent closer and her eyes met with a beautiful pink heart.

Naminé smiled. "That looks really great on you." she said.

Kairi's hand went to her neck and the silver chain. "Thank you." she  
beamed.

Naminé's head was full of thoughts as she left the apartment. Kairi was in love with Sora's necklace. She thought it was beautiful, and  
she had no idea who it was from. She tried to think what would happen if she told Kairi. Kairi might try to deny that she ever liked it,  
which would be ridiculous. Then Naminé could definitely use that against her if they argued about it. Not that it would matter. Whether or not Kairi loved the necklace was clearly irrelevant. It was Sora that mattered.

As Naminé was walking down the street a distinct and intuitive thought entered her mind. She had to get Kairi and Sora to go to that wedding.  
It was the only way. That way, neither of them could easily ignore each other, nor the evident feelings they both had for one another. The only problem was, now she had to get Cloud to invite two complete strangers to his _wedding_.

Cloud, wedding. It made her shiver with happiness. She remembered all the dates she and Roxas had been dragged into by Tifa and Cloud. Naminé found such pleasure in watching the way Cloud would stop what he was doing and just look at Tifa, like he was completely and unstoppably in love with her. Naminé always feared they wouldn't last. A couple of times they had fights, and the normally cool and collected Cloud would be lost and completely alone without Tifa. They were always okay in the end, though.

Naminé remembered feeling the same way about her and Roxas once. Kairi, of course, had unintentionally not helped the situation at all. She and Roxas and Kairi and Riku were wandering the streets of the town, looking for a good place to eat. This was, of course, before Roxas and Naminé had broken up and before they had seen what Riku had done. She and Kairi were lagging behind talking, while Roxas steered clear of Riku awkwardly up ahead. (Roxas never did really like him.)

Kairi had spoken out in between a conversation about love, which Naminé had unfortunately been dragged into.

"No offense, but only about 10% of those high school relationships work out." she interjected.

Naminé had stopped and laughed. "Gee, how could I possibly not take offense to that?" she looked at her cousin.

Kairi had thrown her hands in the air. "Just don't be surprised if you two don't last."

Naminé opened her mouth to speak but closed it quickly. She stared at Roxas ahead of her walking behind Riku, mocking his every move, including Riku's legendary flip of the hair. She laughed softly. What if they didn't last? She didn't know what to do without Roxas.

And Kairi was right. They didn't last. Naminé actually stopped in the street in real life as she thought about this. When they did break up, Naminé had satisfied the empty void in her heart by being Roxas' friend. And making fun of him in clever new ways each and every day. She giggled at each and every thought out pun, punch in the arm, and happy smile she had shared with him. It made her happy to think about it. Then something occurred to her. She had never truly loved anyone else. To be honest, not many guys fell in love with _her_. Roxas did. Roxas was her best friend, and he was the only one that made her truly... happy. She hadn't loved spiky blonde-haired boys. She had loved Roxas.

At the mere age of nineteen Naminé accepted the fact that she could easily be imagining her feelings. But then she remembered Cloud. She could tell by the way his face lit up and the beautiful times his eyes glimmered when he mentioned Tifa's name, and she remembered that he would always be in love with her no matter what. She could tell.

Naminé broke her thoughts and payed attention to walking. She sighed in frustration when she realized she was only a block from her street, meaning she had gone in a circle, nowhere closer to Cloud's hotel than her own apartment. She sighed and turned herself in the proper direction.

Getting to Twilight Town luxury hotel was much easier when Naminé was paying attention. In a couple of minutes she arrived at his room, and knocked on the door.

"Hang on!" she heard a shower running inside. As she waited she occupied herself with admiring the soft white color of the hotel hallways. She smiled as she positioned a vase of different colored roses in front of her eyes, turning the white wall into a beautiful array of colors. It reminded her of her walls, and she beamed brightly.

"Yeah?" Cloud appeared in the doorway, looking in different directions for the visitor. His hair had little droplets of water clung to each strand, but it still retained it's perfect spikes. Her vision was weighted down to his chest, which was completely bare. She saw completely perfect chiseled abs, not unlike those belonging to Roxas. But what really made her stop was the fact that the only thing he was wearing was... boxers.

Cloud seemed to read that something was wrong by Naminé's shell-shocked expression. He looked down and screamed in astonishment.

His scream made Naminé scream. Cloud slammed the door and yelled, "Damn!"

"Can't unsee it. Can't unsee it. Can't unsee it." Naminé repeated and covered her eyes. Pretty soon Cloud came out, dressed in jeans and a fresh t-shirt.

Naminé peeked through her hands to see that Cloud was fully clothed, the reddest blush she had ever seen crept across his cheeks. "Hi, Naminé." he murmured to the ground.

"I won't tell if you won't." she sighed and walked into his room.

"Deal." he brushed off some water from his hair and closed the door behind her.

Naminé sat on his white unmade bed and stared out his window that had a beautiful view of the whole of Twilight Town. Already an orange and yellow sunset was taking it's place on the horizon, and Naminé fought the urge to find some of that complimentary paper and those breakable one- inch pencils and draw it.

"What's up?" Cloud asked, referring to why she was there. He kicked his half-packed suitcase overflowing with dirty shirts and socks into the corner.

Naminé turned to him. "Oh, you know..." she stalled, not exactly sure how to start to ask him.

He laughed. "Right..." he fell in a chair next to the bed and finger combed his hair.

"Yes." she nodded, a smile plastered on her face.

Clearly Cloud didn't understand, but that was expected. She was only trying to stall. Naminé sighed and stood up.

"I need a favor." she played with her bag, avoiding his gazing eyes.

"Yeah?" he urged.

Naminé laughed uncomfortably. "I was just wondering if maybe you would let Kairi..." she stopped, prepared to give it to him in installments, hoping it would sound less awful that way.

Cloud nodded and waited for her to continue.

"And Sora..." she said.

"Yeah?"

"Come to your wedding." she closed her eyes and bit her lip, deciding it best to throw it out there.

Cloud answered immediately, but to Naminé a mere second felt like an eternity. "Sure." he replied.

"I totally understand." she pulled her bag over her shoulder. "I'm sorry for-" she stopped and looked at him. "Sure?"

Cloud laughed. "Yeah. I remember Sora. He was cool." he smiled, making no mention of Kairi. "Besides, you just saw me with my pants off, so I'll do just about anything for you."

Naminé exhaled loudly. "Thank you, Cloud."

"Anytime." he went to hug her, but both of them pulled back.

"I think I'll just... go." she laughed awkwardly, pointing to him, then the door.

"Right." he ran his hand through his hair. "I don't blame you."

Naminé lingered outside the hotel room and looked at him. "Tell Tifa I said hello." she waved.

"Will do." he smiled. "See you in a week."

"A week?" she squealed. Cloud shut the door to her open mouth. She stood there for a moment, eyes wide. Eventually she walked to the elevator, thinking of how she evidently neglected to look at the date on the invitation. Would Roxas be back by then? As she walked down the hall she subconsciously grabbed a red rose from the display.

She felt immensely relieved as she walked down the street to her house. Only one thing nagged on her mind, and that one thing was the thing she didn't know what to do anything about. She twirled the rose in her fingers, periodically pricking her fingers but paying little attention to it. She looked at the rose. It reminded her of the exact one she had bought at the flower shop the day shed given one of them to Roxas. As she walked she plucked a petal for each step and watched it float to the ground slowly and silently.

"Well, would you look at who's walking alone." someone said from behind her.

She twisted around quickly. "Roxas?"

* * *

  
*Sigh* Kairi causes many a-problems.

Anyway, haha Naminé and Cloud are funny...

Also I need help here. I am COMPLETELY out of usable worlds, meaning ones that are from Kingdom Hearts and aren't the Disney ones. Help? (It can be from FF or something if needed.)

After all, they need to get married _somewhere_ and i do not really feel like making it in wonderland or the deep jungle or something.


	18. Mint and Roses

"What, you aren't happy to see me?" Roxas pouted. He stood behind her with arms spread wide, a smile slowly sneaking it's way onto his face. He was wearing a blue jacket, disclosing that the weather in Hollow Bastion was clearly not like that of Twilight Town. Beside him rested his black suitcase and duffel bag; he hadn't even gone home yet. He had found her first.

"Kairi said you'd be at the-" he started to say, before Naminé ran up to him, wrapping her arms around his neck in a hug. He seemed surprised. It took him a couple seconds to figure out what was happening before he put his arms around her waist and hugged her back.

She buried her face in his chest, inhaling the familiar combination of mint and Roxas' cologne. Before what she was doing had even crossed her mind it was too late. They stayed like that under the glow of the steadily flicking on streetlights for several moments, all but forgetting what had happened before he left.

She let go first and almost managed to cough absentmindedly and turn towards the street if it wasn't for the slowly growing smile that was giving her away. Roxas' expression was a mixed one of shock and happiness. She punched him in the arm.

"You really shouldn't leave again." she bent down and tried to pick up his duffel. She almost had it in the air when the heaviness dragged it back down to the concrete. She exhaled loudly and put her hand on her scar when it started to sear. Roxas bent down and hoisted it over his shoulder with ease. They both started walking.

"Why is that?" he adjusted his suitcase in his other hand.

"Apparently when you aren't here for me to make fun of you I have these _vicious_ nightterrors." she emphasized. Well... part of it was true. She gave herself credit for telling him half of it.

He laughed. "No kidding."

"Mm." she nodded then looked at the ground. Eventually she felt his eyes on her. She looked at his expression quickly to find it smiling.  
His deep blue eyes were sparkling and he bore a pink blush on his cheeks, but he looked the other way when he saw her watching.

"Guess who's getting married?" she threw out casually, then looked at his expression eagerly. Just as she suspected, his eyes grew wide with terror and he looked at her intently, as if somehow it might have been her.

"Cloud." she smiled and stared ahead.

Roxas ran ahead and looked back at her. "Wait. Cloud _Strife_?"

"Do you know any other Clouds?" she asked.

Suddenly Roxas smiled. "It's Tifa, right?" he shouted. "He's getting married to Tifa?"

She nodded. "It's in Traverse Town*, where she grew up. In a week."

He stopped. "Are you going?" he asked.

"Of course." she chuckled. "Are you?"

"No idea." he shook his head. "I only just found out." he turned around and continued walking.

Naminé cleared her throat almost silently, but just audibly enough for Roxas to hear. He looked at her.

"What?" he asked.

"You are... invited." she smiled. "From Cloud."

He grinned. "Great." then he seemed to remember something. "Wait he's like twenty-four, right? Isn't that kinda young?"

"They're in love." she said defensively. "Besides, you're like twenty. Are you even old enough to take a plane there by yourself?" she smirked.

"Hilarious." he said. "And I am not going by myself."

"Who are you going with?" she questioned.

"You." he replied.

She stared at his face, but he showed no signs of it being a joke. He wanted to go to the wedding with her. She didn't know what to make of  
that, or if there was even anything there to understand.

"How did you know where I was?" she asked him.

"Easy." he shrugged. "Just followed the ever-perfect trail of discarded rose petals." he looked back at them lying on the ground.

She looked at her hand, and realized she was still clutching the rose stem, picked clean of every single red petal. She dropped it in someone's outside garden casually.

"Kairi told me you'd be at the hotel." he said, an air of curiosity in his voice, as if somehow asking her why she was there.

She caught it, but only subconsciously, so she forgot to tell him. He didn't press the matter.

"Roxas?" she asked him after several moments of silent walking.

"Yeah?" he turned to her.

She bit her lip. "Why did you leave." it was more of a statement that a question.

He sighed and looked ahead. "I was talking with an old friend."

"Xion." she said.

He looked at her in surprise. "How do you know Xion?"

"I don't." she shook her head. "Cloud told me that was probably why you were there."

"Yeah." he nodded. "I went with Axel. All three of us are old friends." then he smiled. "Also I'm pretty sure they like each other."

Naminé looked at him. "Oh, and here I was worrying it was something else." she said sarcastically.

"What?" he laughed.

She stopped walking. "Roxas. Do you remember what you said to me before you left?"

His smile fell and he turned the other way. "Yeah."

She exhaled and smiled. "Well, I have an answer."

His face started to spread into a smile. "Yeah?"

Naminé opened her mouth to speak before a familiar shriek filled her ears. She and Roxas both turned their heads down the street, where it was coming from.

What she saw didn't surprise her as much as it made her relatively uneasy. A ways down the street, right next to her apartment, two boys and a girl were standing in the street. One boy had silver hair and was standing above the other, fist outstretched. The other was on the ground, hand cupped over his bleeding mouth.

The girl had brilliant red hair and was covering her mouth in shock. When she saw Naminé she yelled to her.

Naminé ran farther up the street, Roxas trailing after. "What the hell?" she heard Roxas say from behind her.

"Naminé!" Kairi shouted to Naminé and ran to her, embracing her in a hug. "Please make it stop! Make them stop!" she cried.

Sora jumped up from the ground and punched Riku in the stomach. Riku stepped back a few feet in impact, then jumped back in again.

"Hey!" Naminé yelled. She tried to get closer to them to pull them apart. Roxas grabbed her arm protectively but she pulled away. "Hey!" she screamed. "Stop!"

After that all Naminé saw was a flying fist, a flash of white light, and then she was knocked to the ground. Hard. She heard Kairi scream, "Riku!" in a mix of anger and terror.

"Naminé!" Roxas yelled loudly and appeared above her, hitting Riku in the face with his fist. She thought she saw Riku fall backwards onto the ground with a groan. Kairi's frightened face sprung in front of hers.

"Naminé! Hang on!" she yelled then turned her attention to Roxas and Sora who were leaning over Riku.

Naminé tried to sit up. There was something in her mouth. She coughed and saw blood drip onto the ground. Kairi squeaked.

"Roxas, she's bleeding!" she cried.

Naminé looked up. "Did he punch me in the face?" she murmured.

Kairi didn't answer but walked over to the dropped form of Riku, a livid expression plastered on her face. "You _bastard_!" she screamed and kicked him in the leg as hard as her pink flats would allow.

Riku grunted and rolled over, and Sora tried to save the seething Kairi from clawing Riku's face off with her manicured nails.

Suddenly Roxas was above her. "You always have to get hurt when I'm around." he smiled.

Naminé began to feel a little drowsy. "Why is it never _you_?" she clutched her throbbing head.

He sighed, helping her to her feet. He inspected her face. "Good news. You're still hideous." he joked.

"Bad news. So are you." she smiled.

Naminé saw Sora walk over to them. There was blood running down his face, and he was sporting a brilliant black eye.

"What happened?" Roxas asked him.

Sora sighed. "We saw him with another girl."

"You hit him?" Naminé mumbled.

"Yeah." Sora shuffled his feet in the dirt. "Stupid, I know."

"No." Naminé smiled, thinking it was brave. Not only did Riku rightly deserve it, but it showed that Sora really cared about Kairi enough to get into a fist fight with her unfaithful boyfriend.

Kairi stood near the door of the house, brushing her tears away with the back of her hand and crying softly. Her hair had escaped it's ponytail and was tousled freely on her back and over her face, covering her quivering jaw. Naminé broke free slowly from Roxas' grasp and walked over to her.

"Kairi..." she touched Kairi's arm gently.

She looked up. Her moist eyes were outlined darkly with her smudged mascara. "He was cheating on me."

"Kairi..." Naminé looked back at Roxas for some advice. He smiled at her comfortingly, telling her he was here if she needed him.

Big comfort.

"I have been trying to tell you something for a long time." she started. "But every time I tried you looked so happy that I _couldn't_. I couldn't break your heart while you were like that..."

Kairi didn't seem to understand immediately. When she realized, however, her voice rose to a scream. "You already _knew_?" she shouted, making Naminé jump.

"Oh my God." Kairi shook her head. Then she pointed at Roxas. "And you! You knew too, didn't you?"

"Well- I... I mean, I-" Roxas stammered.

Kairi pointed at Sora. "And you probably knew too!" she shouted, even though Sora had zero clue what she was talking about. He just stood there bleeding, staring at her stupidly.

"Why not?" she laughed maniacally. "Why wouldn't you know? Did the whole world know but me?"

"No." Naminé insisted. "Kairi, I didn't tell anyone."

"Yeah." Kairi nodded. "Not even me."

Naminé's face fell. She didn't know what to say.

Kairi opened the apartment door and walked inside, slamming the door in Naminé's face and bolting it shut.

"Kairi, please!" Naminé yelled, but to no avail. The locked door stayed locked. She could tell she wasn't going to be able to get in for awhile. Slowly she lowered herself onto the pavement, putting her burning head in her hands.

She felt Roxas sit beside her. "Naminé.." he pulled a piece of blonde hair from her face.

She looked up. Riku was gone; no doubt he had ran away the first chance he got. Sora was standing in the middle of the street, looking up at the apartment window.

She sighed, wishing she had never seen Riku with the other girl in the first place. She felt truly terrible, she knew in her heart that keeping the secret would make everything fall apart in the end. Yet she did nothing about until it was too late. And now, Kairi didn't even want to speak to her. She was left outside.

She looked down the street where she had come from, feeling like one of her dropped rose petals...

left on the street and forgotten.

* * *

* Whoever supplied me with this information, you are my new bestfriend. Thanks to everyone else's suggestions... no doubt I'll use them in future stories :)

Fight! I feel terrible for making Riku the bad guy. _He hit Namin_é_! He must die_! Next story I write he will be nice :)

I am so happy Roxas is back :)


	19. Try Again

_Try Again_

* * *

"I'm not staying here that long." Naminé crossed her arms over her chest.

"Understandable." Roxas nodded and looked down at what was visible of his bedroom floor. He kicked a shoe and it careened across the room, landing on something breakable with a crash.

Naminé slipped on a soft navy sweatshirt in Roxas' over air-conditioned house, shivering. "After all," she mumbled, mostly to herself, "How long can she possibly keep me out of my own apartment?" she asked the air.

Roxas looked at her funny. She stuck her tongue out at him.

"Hey." he warned. "Don't mock the guy that lets you live in his bedroom," he snatched a pair of sweatpants from his bed. "When HE has to sleep on the couch."

"I can go somewhere else!" she shouted.

"No, you can't." he laughed and walked out the door.

No, she couldn't. She had literally nowhere else to go.

She sat down on Roxas' bed slowly. "This isn't weird." she sighed, looking around her at the unfamiliar walls, posters, pictures, and window. The window. She would feel better if she could look outside. She stood on her knees, peering through the glass. With a strugle she prized the heavy golden panes open. They creaked and groaned as she pulled them to the wall.

"Ow!" she stuck her finger in her mouth after pricking it on something sharp. She opened her hand and watched a ruby red bead of blood ooze onto her skin. She finished opening the window and peered inside the space right between the window and the outside air. As she looked out,  
a strong gust of wind circulated through Roxas' bedroom and then out again, taking with it a flurry of blackened, old rose petals. She gasped and tried to catch some, but their withering carcasses fluttered unceremoniously through the breeze, undoubtedly carted off to a hundred different places over the town.

She sighed noisily and banged her head on the wall. As she was hitting her forehead against the wood something caught her eye. She probably  
would not have paid any attention to it if it hadn't have been the exact same color... of her eyes. A deep blue. More aqua than navy but still dark none the less. She picked it up out of the windowsill and looked at it. A pencil. And from the looks of it, _her_ pencil. One of her drawing ones, in blue. It was tied carelessly to an old brown stem with a piece of string that drooped when Naminé picked it up. She was careful not to poke herself again on one of the thorns which was no doubt the thing that had made her bleed.

"Huh." she thought about this particular rose stem, and why someone would possibly want to keep it. Then it occured to her... maybe. It could perhaps be the white rose she had given to him that day. But, seeing as all of the petals were long gone now, she had no way of knowing.

Naminé closed Roxas' window and sat on his bed again, inspecting the pencil. By chance (or not), it was one of the pencils that Roxas had given to her along with her red one. She looked closer and she could see a fading **R** engraved into the wood.

Suddenly Roxas opened the door and leaned in, keeping his hand on the knob. She quickly hid the pencil and stem behind her back so he wouldn't see she was snooping around in his things.

"Hey are you like, hungry?" he ran his hand through his hair. "We could go out... or something."

She nodded and stood up, pushing the items under the bed's covers. She walked over to the door still looking at her finger.

"I need a band-aid." she said to him.

"What're you, four?" he said.

"I'm serious." she said flatly.

"Lemme see." he reached for her hand, encasing her tiny one in his. She felt the same electricity course from her hand to her face, making her blush. She turned away so he wouldn't see.

"Here." he stuck her finger in his mouth for a second then let go. "Perfect." he smiled.

"Oh my God, _Roxas_! That's repulsive!" she shouted and held her finger in the air like it held the worlds most terrible disease.

"Stopped bleeding, didn't it?" he smirked.

Yes.

Naminé didn't answer but walked to the bathroom. "If you'll excuse me I have to go sterilize my hand." she mumbled.

"Meet you outside." Roxas called and hopped down the stairs.

When Naminé was washing and bandaging her finger she caught a look of herself in the mirror and sighed. Completely ignoring the fact that she had a puffy lip and a bruised cheek, her hair was out of place and her cheeks were still red from blushing. She fixed a few stray pieces of hair. Then she splashed cold water on her skin and pressed some on her lip, willing the swelling to go down. It didn't.

As she was going down the stairs she stopped in realization. She never cared about what she looked like with Roxas. Ever. It almost creepeher out that she did now. She sighed and walked to the front door where Roxas was nodding his head to something on his iPod. He pulled his headphones out when she walked down and smiled.

"Ready for our date?" he joked.

"Take that back." she warned.

He was silent but he still walked on smiling.

"Where do you wanna go?" Roxas asked.

"Kairi." she whispered, looking ahead.

"Nah, thanks." he said. "Wait, what?"

"It's Kairi." she pointed, squinting to see through the hazy sunlight ahead. "See?"

He looked. "So?" he shrugged.

"I'm going to talk to her." Naminé ran ahead of him, hoping she and Kairi could talk, maybe their conversation could somehow turn into one  
where Kairi let Naminé come home. She already knew she was going to have to sleep on the floor tonight. Sleeping in Roxas' bed would freak her out.

"This is a bad idea." Roxas sighed and followed her, mumbling indistinguishable complaints to himself.

"Kairi!" Naminé yelled once she was close enough. Kairi was clad in, let's just say, inappropriate summer wear; consisting of jeans and a overly bulky sweatshirt. In fact, if you looked at her from afar without knowing who she was, you would never have guessed there was a skinny twig of a girl encased in all of that autumn like material. Naminé wondered why a girl like Kairi would ever dream of covering up. The reason she gave up Destiny Islands for moving out to Twilight Town was so that she could wear tank-tops and skirts. Not to mention the fact that it was like 80 degrees outside today.

Kairi turned her head at the sound of her name, hand halfway up to knock on someone's door. When she saw Naminé she pressed herself against the wall, as if somehow hoping to blend in.

When Naminé got up to Kairi she realized she had no idea what to say, so both of them just stood there in silence. It lasted several seconds.

"Kai-" Naminé decided to wing it.

Kairi put her hand up to silence her. "Don't talk." she spat childishly.

Naminé didn't really know what to answer to that. She looked back at Roxas, but he had suddenly taken a deep interest in lawn ornaments and was therefore _unable_ to help. She sighed, accepting that she was on her own, as per usual.

"I know you're upset-" she tried again.

"I am, actually." she said curtly.

Naminé ignored this, trying to steer the conversation away from one that might end with that plastic flamingo inserted into her head. "I want to talk." she sighed.

Kairi said nothing.

Naminé waited for an answer that didn't come, then after awhile said, "Please talk to me."

Kairi threw her arms in the air. "Fine! I'll talk." she fumed. "Would you like the short version or the long version?"

"Long?" Naminé said timidly.

"Get lost." Kairi picked up her purse and turned away from the door.

Roxas laughed awkwardly, clearly trying in some way to break the ice. "What's the short one?" he asked.

"Bye." she said, and left the doorstep, turning down the street and onto the main road.

Naminé looked at the ground, deciding it best to just let her go.

"Naminé?" Roxas put his hand on her shoulder.

She pulled it away. "I'm just going to go back." she said, and left him in the street to walk back to her new home, for however long it needed to be.

Naminé lay on her makeshift bed compiled of a messy assortment of sheets, blankets, and comforters, looking unsuccessfully up at the shadowed ceiling. Despite being on the floor, the mélange of down- filled pillows and feathered blankets was relatively comfortable, comparatively speaking. Anyway, it was better than Roxas' bed.

Naminé had come straight back to Roxas' house and eaten pretzels for dinner, just about the only thing Roxas had in his house. Even then they got too salty and made her eyes water, which made her accidentally start crying. It was an empty four minutes alone at Roxas' kitchen counter: the kind of cry that just happens without the wonderful feeling of letting it all out. Roxas had come back about twenty minutes later with Thai takeout, but she politely said no and walked up to his room, where she had been for the last hour or so. Only a little while ago did the orange sky start to turn burnt black, giving her an excuse to go to sleep. Not fall asleep, but maybe close her blood-shot eyes for a few minutes before restlessness set in. Or worse: her recently discovered nightterrors.

When she had been lying on the floor for some time, she heard her door open slowly.

"Damn, Naminé, what did you do to my floor?" Roxas exclaimed.

She moaned and rolled over.

"Something wrong with my bed?" he dropped to the ground and tried to crawl around the mess in the dark.

Naminé sat up. "Yeah. It's _your bed_."

It was silent as he thought about it. "Point taken. Where are you?" he felt around her blanket nest with his hand, hitting her in the face.

"God, Roxas!" she shouted, clutching her nose. "Are you in here for a reason?" she yelled at his black silhouette.

"Well it is _my room_, remember."

Something cold and icy dripped onto Naminé's hand, and she yelled from the shock and frosty texture that was dripping down her arm. "What IS that?" she screamed.

"Ice cream." she heard him say.

Oh my God. "Right." she laughed. "It's just ice cream." then she threw her fist in his general direction, hoping she might hit him. "Why did you bring ice cream in here in the_ dark_?" she wacked him with her pillow.

"Hey!" he put his hands in front of his face. "Stop!"

She put down the pillow and fell into it, burying her face in it's softness.

Roxas poked her shoulder. "Want some?" he waved something pungent and sweet in front of her face.

"No!" she said, pushing his hand away.

"Eat it, Naminé."

Nothing.

"Eat the Sea-Salt Ice." he demanded.

"Why?" she groaned.

"Because you're going to die due to lack of food." he snarled. "I can't have that kind of problem on my hands."

She sighed and sat up, finding the popsicle in the dark. She took a bite, taking care to not let it drip. It tasted... nice. Really nice.  
She was reminded of how Sea-Salt Ice made her feel better when she was a girl. The familiar, unchanging combination of sweet and salty always worked together to stop her bad feelings.

"Thanks." she sighed and laid back down.

"Mm hm." he fell down on the ground next to her, keeping about a foot's distance between them.

They laid there unmoving for a long time, just looking up at the ceiling. Neither one of them made a sound, or got up to leave.

After awhile Naminé stirred. "I wish you had glow-in-the-dark stars, too." she mumbled quietly, mostly to herself.

She heard Roxas turn on his side and face her. "They're not that great." he said. She could almost hear him smiling in the dark, no doubt thinking of that night where he had taken her to see the real stars.

"Better than darkness." she replied. Her ominous answer seemed to ring through the black bedroom, making her shiver. He looked at her.

"Are you cold?" he asked.

She shook her head no, but pulled a blanket over her arms anyway.

"Yeah you are." he smiled.

"I'm fine." she insisted, and rolled on her side, facing away from Roxas. She began to feel sleep take over her and fought to keep her eyes open.

A little later she felt Roxas lean over her. "Naminé?" he whispered in her ear.

She sighed, breaking out of her daze. "What?" she snapped.

He pulled her up out of laying down. Her eyes flashed white as they adjusted to the dark again, and she had to blink several times to clear them. "What are you doing?" she asked.

"Do you remember what I asked you when we broke up?" he asked.

She thought about it, but her mind was getting cloudy with sleep. "Can I have my stuff back?" she tried.

"No." he shook his head. "After that."

She was silent. She remembered... she remembered perfectly. "Try again." was all she whispered.

"Yeah, that." he said.

"Why?" she asked him through the dark.

He didn't answer her right away. He shifted on the floor, no doubt trying to think of what to say. "You never answered me." he stated, with almost a trace of sadness in his voice.

She sighed. "I know." To be honest, she had never figured out what to say.

"Naminé..." Roxas reached over and took her hand. Slowly he pulled her closer to him, wrapping his arm around her waist.

Naminé felt herself leaning closer without thinking. She knew she probably wouldn't remember this if it happened. After all, she was pretty convinced she was only half-awake anyway. All she could feel was Roxas' chest against hers as they got closer together. It felt natural and warm, like when you slipped into your favorite pair of fuzzy boots. In fact, Naminé could have easily done nothing about what was going on, if Roxas hadn't slowly pressed his lips against hers.

No, her mind said. This wasn't right. She wasn't sure if it was the wrong time and place or if it should not be happening at all, but either way it wasn't right. She pulled away.

"Roxas, no." she pushed his chest with the flat part of her hand. "No."

He stopped. "Yeah." he said quietly. He didn't object or ask questions. He just stopped.

"I'm sorry." she said. "I can't." she didn't know why she couldn't, she just knew that right now it seemed... wrong.

"Okay." he lowered his head and stood up. His voice just had an air of discouragement and frustration, which hurt Naminé the most. He didn't get mad or upset... he just opened the door and left.

She sat up in the dark, unmoving for several seconds. Then she laid down on the floor, small tears welling up in her eyes. She wished that perhaps he _would_ have yelled at her; gotten angry. It would have made her feel better. But instead, he left her by herself in the dark, wide awake and a disappointment.

* * *

You know this chapter will be important when the title is the name of the story.

Edit: I wrote a little bit of a deleted-scene thing of this chapter in Roxas' point of view. Check it out here: .net/s/6356039/1/Nightterrors


	20. Perfect Mornings

Naminé never did like mornings.

The all-around perkiness of her cousin at early hours would either annoy her or make her depressed. Kairi woke up at the crack of dawn  
almost every morning, with few exceptions. And she hated being alone. So, fueled by coffee she probably did not need, she would almost always wake Naminé up, too. She did not do it kindly either, to put it nicely. That, combined with the fact that it was always so _bright_, made Naminé just want to crawl in a hole. Or her closet. Whichever worked.

Here, however, there was no Kairi. No perkiness, no ripping of the covers, not a single pop tune coming from Kairi's tone deaf lungs. Also, there was no light streaming in the window, bathing Naminé in it's white glow. She should have been content lying there in the dark and quiet. But she wasn't.

Yes... Naminé hated mornings.

Avoiding confrontations was her main goal. So she got up when she woke up, which just so happened to be around 6:30 in the morning. She got  
dressed as silently as possible, taking care not to stomp on the floor when she pulled on her jeans, lest she be heard from below. She kept the lights off as she pulled her hair in a messy ponytail over her shoulder and as she brushed her teeth. She didn't put makeup on. Ever, really. Naminé posessed a subtle, natural kind of beauty. The kind that didn't pop out at you like Kairi, but was very visible when you took the time to look. Besides, he always liked her better without makeup.

By the time she had packed everything up and folded Roxas' blankets and sheets, it was already 7:45.

Before she left, she unraveled a small rhinestone studded flower that was wrapped around her hairbrush and tied it to the blue pencil, putting it back on the windowsill. She made sure to brush away any excess withered rose remains and position the flower where he MIGHT be less likely to see it.

"There," she said to herself. "That one won't die."

Naminé stuffed her clothes into her bag and left the room, leaving the door slightly ajar. Then she padded down the carpet stairs silently, thanking God she was a quiet walker.

When she reached the bottom she found Roxas lying on the couch on his back. He had one arm over his eyes and the other hung over the side of the couch, as if he was holding something when he fell asleep. She looked at the ground and saw a waded up piece of graph paper. She could see a few black strokes of what looked like letters and words on the front. He had fallen asleep writing something. She slipped over to him and grasped the paper quietly from the ground. She flinched and froze when the paper made crinkly noises, causing Roxas to stir.

When Naminé opened the letter she tried to adjust her eyes to read it, it being so early in the morning. The very top read, _To Cloud_. The first part of the letter talked about the wedding, and how happy he was for him. However, there was more to the note that was almost impossible to read. The next few paragraphs Roxas scribbled out a few random things that Cloud and him usually talked about: skating, college, cars, and stuff of the like. In the very last paragraph, though, Naminé found it almost difficult to continue reading. Slashes, marks, white outs, and erases covered the entire writing. Here and there Naminé caught her name scattered in between the graphite residue. Also small phrases like "don't know what to do," and "talk to her," surfaced. She put the letter down and looked at Roxas. He looked really serene laying there. Almost like some frozen God with his chiseled features and styled hair that stayed in position even when he slept. She smiled and poked one of his blonde spikes, and watched as it flopped back into position.

She remembered when she first met Roxas. She guessed it was about three or four years ago, freshmen year in high school. He was the very  
first one who ever talked to her.

"Who are you?" he had pulled up a chair next to her in class and sat on it backwards, pulling his arms on the back.

Naminé was never big on school. She did famously well, but it was never something she got excited for. In fact, the only class she would ever rush to and lag behind in was art class. Which, by some sort of mistake, Roxas had accidentally been put in. He hated it. Probably because he sucked, but mostly because the whole of ninth grade Naminé wouldn't give him the time of day.

She had peered over the top of her art book at him cautiously after his introduction, fearing he was another one of those terrible losers she usually attracted. However, she was pleasantly surprised. He was attractive. _Really_ attractive. He looked like one of the guys Kairi usually brought home.

"Naminé." she said, a little bit cautiously.

He smiled. His smile was bright and genuine; a smile just for her. "I'm Roxas."

"Okay." she nodded.

"Do you actually know anyone in here?" he whispered, motioning to the rest of the class.

She looked around. In the corner Kairi was mashing some clay angrily with her fist and cursing. She turned to Roxas. "Not a soul." she said.

"Me neither." he replied and slumped his head in his crossed arms.

"That's nice." she picked up her pencil and resumed sketching.

This surprised him. "So." he tried to continue the conversation. "What are you sketching?" he asked like he really cared.

She looked up again. "Why?"

He looked caught off guard. "Well I, um.."

She looked down and sighed. "I am drawing a perfect world with perfect people who don't interrupt others when they are trying to draw."

He laughed. To be honest she was surprised he understood that.

"So not me." he said.

"No." she smiled. "Not you."

"Well." Roxas stood up to leave. "I have to go throw paint on something or I'll fail the class." he ran his hand through his hair.

"Wishing you the best of luck." she looked at her paper.

"Thanks." he smiled and extended his hand. "Well nice meeting you, Naminé. Don't suppose you'll talk to me again."

She shook it. "No." she smiled. "Don't suppose I will."

And she didn't. But he did.

Naminé snapped her head back in the real world. She got up and stretched, carefully stepping over Roxas' hand on her way to the door. Then she heaved her bag over her shoulder and opened the door as quietly as she could. A second later she was out the door and walking alone down the street.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

Naminé yawned quietly and dragged her bag on the ground, much too tired to even lift it up. To be honest, she didn't have a clue where  
she was going, or if she was ever going to.

There was almost a sense of freedom walking around town in the morning by herself. Like she didn't have anywhere she had to be, nor anyplace she really wanted to be. It felt great. She found herself skipping through downtown for a brief second, but stopped when she saw the market clerk staring.

Eventually she came across her street. Kairi was in the front lawn tending to their garden. She had on a light lavender sundress and her  
usual white wide-brimmed sunhat, bent over the plants. Usually Kairi never tended to the flowers in their outside garden. She didn't have  
the patience and would almost always end up throwing Naminé's tulips and roses into the neighbor's windows, then rearranging them in the  
hopes that Naminé wouldn't notice.

Naminé saw that she was tending to them today and smiled. Kairi was keeping Naminé's flowers alive, like maybe she would someday let Naminé come home. Or so she hoped.

She thought coming up quickly would just make Kairi run into the house, so she repressed the urge to call her name and instead walked calmly and quietly up to the apartment. When she got close enough she heard Kairi talking to herself as she watered Naminé's daisies.

"Dammit!" she shouted as she knocked all the petals off of a rose with her arm. "Freaking nature." she mumbled.

"Hello." Naminé said kindly.

"Ahhh!" Kairi screamed and lost her balance in her pumps (Kairi always had the most inappropriate shoes for every occasion possible) landing herself in the ground and directly on Naminé's azaleas.

"My flowers!" Naminé dropped her bag and shouted, covering her mouth with her hands.

"My dress!" Kairi cried and jumped up quickly, pushing open the white-washed gate and turning in circles as she tried to see the large dirt stain on the bottom hem of her dress.

Well, that confrontation could have gone better.

"My flowers..." Naminé pinched her dear departed crushed stems between her fingers, looking sadly as the steady breeze blew away her pink and white petals.

"Your flowers?" Kairi yelped. "What about my dress?"

Naminé walked over to Kairi and inspected the back of her outfit. With a brisk brush of her hand almost all the dirt was gone, leaving behind nothing but the fresh purple cotton.

"Oh." Kairi said. "Thank heavens."

No, not Naminé. Heaven. Naminé did nothing.

Naminé walked over to the spot in the street where her bag lay and picked it up, hoisting it over her arm. Then there was a sort of  
awkward stare-down between the two. Kairi just froze holding her pumps in her hand.

"Well." she finally snipped. "What are you doing here?" she played with the strap on her shoes.

Naminé shuffled in the dirt. "I'm going to a wedding in like four days and... I need someone to help me go shopping."

Lie.

Kairi was silent as she thought this over. "Maybe you should have _Roxas_ take you." she said.

"Dont talk about him." she said dryly.

Kairi didn't say anything else about it. "Why should I let you come  
back?" she asked.

Maybe because it was her house? "Kairi." she moved closer and lowered her voice to a whisper. "I had to sleep in his _bedroom_ last night." she said.

For a small instant Naminé swore she saw a glimmer of sympathy behind Kairi's blue eyes. However it lasted only briefly and pretty soon Kairi's expression was once more one of anger and annoyance.

"At least _your_ boyfriend loves you." she sneered.

"Roxas isn't my boyfriend anymore." she reminded her.

Kairi sighed and dropped down on the porch. "Well at least he loves you." she took off her sunhat and twirled it in circles on her finger.

"What?" Naminé lowered herself down beside her.

Kairi looked at her, eyebrows arched. "Are you kidding?"

"What do you mean?" She rubbed her forehead.

Kairi started laughing. "Wait, you really don't know?" she looked at her in disbelief.

"Know what?" Naminé cried.

"You seriously really _really_ can't even tell?" Kairi asked.

"Tell what!" Naminé's eyes widened.

"You really-" Kairi yelled.

Naminé clapped her hand over Kairi's mouth. "I think we've established that I have no idea what you're talking about." she hissed.

"Okay." Kairi moved Naminé's hand away and brushed invisible dirt off her hat. "I was referring to the fact that Roxas is in love with you."

"What do you mean?" Naminé frowned. What Kairi was saying was starting to freak her out.

"Oh no no, don't do that again." Kairi sighed. "I can't believe you couldn't tell."

Naminé looked away, thinking this over. She definitely noticed from time to time that Roxas would smile when she was around, and beam brightly when he heard her laugh. He gave her a rose periodically because he knew it was he favorite flower. She also recalled the way Roxas behaved when she was around. Different somehow. More cocky, because he knew it annoyed her. More protective, because he knew she always needed it. More susceptible to her puns and put-downs, because he knew it amused her. And much more like himself, because he knew she liked him that way the best. Different. Then she almost yelled aloud in realization. The way he watched her, looked at her. She had caught him doing it before and smiled.

"Like Cloud." she said.

"Cloud?" Kairi asked, confused.

"Cloud always looks at Tifa that way." she smiled.

Suddenly Kairi slapped her hand on the wood of the porch and gasped. "Tifa and Cloud!" she screamed, seemingly missing Naminé's comment.

"What about them?" Naminé covered her ears.

"Their wedding! I have nothing to wear!" Kairi jumped up and pulled out her keys.

"Wait, Kairi!" Naminé jumped up.

"You know..." Kairi turned around and pinched a piece of Naminé's hair, holding it up to her eyes. "Blue would look nice with your  
features." she smiled.

Naminé's face grew into a grin. "Does this mean you forgive me?"

Kairi smirked. "I don't know. Will you go to the market tomorrow?" she rubbed her arms. "We're out of food and you know how I hate going there." she stared ahead as if thinking about "That God awful place."

"Okay." Naminé laughed. "Now let me go change my clothes and eat some real food."

"Done." Kairi exhaled and walked through the door.

Before she walked in she looked down the street to Roxas' house and sighed. She thought about him waking up soon and realizing she wasn't there. She wondered if he could care anymore. She sighed and walked in the door, shutting it behind her.

She really hated mornings.

* * *

I lied. I'm a liar. You can all take a few moments to hate me.

:)

Sorry I didn't upload yesterday. Regretfully I am a student. And unfortunately, I am smart. Not in a smart way, but in that kind of way where you can handle a lot of homework and get a higher GPA for it. Muhahahaha.

So that means AP classes gets you summer projects! Yess!

Not.


	21. Yellow

"Kairi, can we take a break? I think my intelligence circuits have melted." Naminé hung her mouth open like a dead animal.

"What do you think of this one?" Kairi strutted gracefully in front of the chairs, stopping at each and every mirror she passed to look at herself. "I think I like the eighth one better, though." she put her arms above her head ta-da style and twirled in a circle, almost falling head first into a blue parka wearing mannequin.

Naminé rubbed her forehead. "Was that the pink one or the other pink one?"

"The pink with the ruffled tulle and the beading." Kairi said.

To Naminé that meant all of them. The last six dresses Kairi had tried on had looked exactly the same to her. And the last four hours had felt like even longer.

Kairi kicked her feet from below the dress and admired her choice of shoes. Pink heels, of course, so they'd match every dress she tried on. "Though this one looks nice with my pumps." she cocked her head to the side.

"Mmhm." Naminé looked at the ground, her eyes starting to feel heavy. She nodded her head as she tried to stay alert.

"Do you like the mermaid style or more of the ballgown?" Kairi put her hands on her hips and looked at Naminé.

_Okay. _That was it. Naminé sat up and yawned. "I'm going to go look at the dresses in the front."

"Okay." Kairi smiled and turned back to the mirror.

Naminé stood up. She had to get out of here before she accidentally started to pay attention. She stuffed her hands in the pockets of her light blue hoodie and shut the door of the dressing room, leaving Kairi inside with her reflection. Slowly she walked to the display windows and hummed a tune, barely glancing at the dresses. When she had nothing to do she sifted through a rack that was clearly out of her price range just because she had nothing to do.

She was sorting through some gold embroidered cocktail dresses when something bright and orange caught her eye. She could have mistaken it for a flashy dress if it hadn't have been moving the way it was. She peeked through the expensive cashmere and chiffon to get a closer look. Nothing. She looked again, moving her eyes over the rack of wedding veils to the colorful and bright bridesmaid dresses.

"What are you doing?" someone asked from behind her.

"Ahhh!" Naminé screamed and twisted her ankle in a silver silk belt, falling into the rack of dresses. A girl stood over her with an incredulous look on her face.

From the corner of her eye Naminé saw the owner of the boutique look at her disapprovingly, then lift her eyebrows as if to say, _"Clean that up or I'll clean you."_

Naminé quickly stood up, hanging the sparkly dresses back on their appropriate hooks.

"What were you looking at?" the girl asked Naminé perkily.

Naminé looked at her. She had bright orange-brown hair that must have stood out from very far away. It was styled kind of funky- flipped out on the sides and in the back. A style that would have looked utterly ridiculous on Naminé, but somehow worked for her. Even up close her piercing green eyes looked familiar to Naminé.

"Do I know you?" Naminé stuffed the rest of the visible dresses under the rack with her foot.

The girl swung her handbag she was carrying. "Possibly." she smiled.

Naminé tried to think. "I feel like I've seen you somewhere."

"Weird." the girl giggled.

Well. _She _wasn't going to be much help.

The girl's cell phone rang, and she held up a finger to Naminé as she tried to dig it out of her bag.

She flipped it up to her ear. "Hallo?" she practically shouted.

Naminé leaned on the dress rack patiently.

"No, no, that was yesterday." she laughed into her phone. Then she looked serious. "I'm already taking like two a week."

Naminé arched her eyebrows.

"No... well only a couple. No, they aren't _that_ bad. Mmhm. Sure, I'll take more." she smiled. "Okay. Goodbye, Mr. Mizaki." Then she snapped the cell shut, dropping it in her purse.

Naminé smiled politely.

"My counselor." the girl waved her hands around like it was no big deal, but Naminé stepped back a few feet. The girl dug in her purse and pulled out a crystal fountain pen and a huge pad of pink sticky notes. She scribbled something on the topmost one quickly then put  
them away.

"Hey." Naminé straightened up, looking at where the sticky notes were. "I know who you are. Selphie, right?" she asked.

The girl squealed. "That's me! Selphie Tilmitt. Who are you?" she asked hyperactively.

Naminé smiled. "My name is Naminé. I met you when I came to visit Sora." subconsciously she frowned and felt her forehead. Selphie was quite the different person when they first met.

Selphie seemed to take a moment to understand. Then she perked up. "Oh, that's right!" she smiled. "I remember now."

Naminé scratched the back of her head. "You aren't still contagious, are you?"

Selphie waved that away. "Just a mild influenza. All better now!"

Naminé stared ahead, wondering how influenza could ever be considered 'mild.'

"Anyway, I shouldn't keep you! I have to find a dress for a wedding." Selphie beamed proudly, telling Naminé she didn't get invited to a great deal many weddings.

"Yeah, me too." Naminé practically whispered. She felt like she should talk quieter around Selphie for some reason.

"Really? That's wonderful! Who for?" she asked. In a relatively small town like Twilight Town, weddings weren't plentiful due to lack of people getting married. However, when they did, a good deal of the town was invited, so it would have been very possible they were going to the same one had Naminé's not been out of town.

"It's actually i-in Traverse Town." Naminé said.

Selphie gasped louder than was necessary. "That is so weird! I am too!" she giggled.

Of course she was.

Naminé nodded. "Uh, hey Selphie. May I ask you something?" she averted the subject, but really did have other things on her mind.

Selphie nodded vigorously. Naminé feared for her head falling off and rolling onto the floor.

"Well I know you were staying with Sora." Naminé ventured. "And I haven't seen him in awhile. Do you know where he is?" she asked.

Suddenly Selphie was extremely interested in a bridal gown that was way too small for her. "He went home." she said noncholantly.

Naminé shook her head, thinking maybe she heard her wrong. "Excuse me?"

"Do you think I can fit into this?" Selphie held the dress over her hips.

Naminé didn't answer but slunk back to lean on the rack. Her heart fell aways. Suddenly her mouth became really dry and her eyes got cloudy. Sora... went home?

"Selphie.." she said slowly.

"Yes, new friend Naminé?" Selphie giggled.

"Have you met Kairi yet?" she asked.

Selphie thought. "I only know one Kairi and I haven't seen her in years. Who are you talking about?" she smiled. Though, she was always smiling.

"Come with me." Naminé said, getting an idea. She grabbed Selphie's hand and pulled her to the back of the store.

"Gee, where are we going?" she yelled happily.

Naminé burst open the door of the dressing room. "There's someone here to see you, Kairi." she said.

Kairi turned around. She was wearing a gold dress now, covered in eccentric black floral patterns. When she saw Selphie's beaming face she cocked her head to the side, as if recognizing something familiar but not quite placing it.

"Kairi, you're all grown up!" Selphie squealed and ran to embrace her.

From high in her heels Kairi looked down and saw the flipped up hairstyle. "OhmyGod, Selph!" she screamed.

They both jumped up and down screaming for a minute while Naminé covered her ears. There, she thought. Now they could shop together. And Naminé could-

"Where are you going?" Kairi crossed her arms and looked at Naminé, who was picking up her bag.

Naminé smiled. "For a walk. You two catch up... I'll be in the way."

"What about your dress?" Kairi squeaked.

Naminé opened the dressing room door. "Pick me something out." and then she walked to the other side, shutting it behind her. She knew she was trodding on dangerously thin ice with that last comment, but she hoped for the best and expected the worst.

She walked out of the store, making sure to smirk innocently at the owner on her way out. Outside the air promised freshness and renewing and she breathed deeply. It felt nice compared to the small under-conditioned boutique. She looked over the tops of some trees and through some large buildings at the sky, across the square. The always burning sky usually promised reds and pinks and oranges with tiny speckles of yellow. Today, though, the whole sky was aglow with gold. It was breathtaking and Naminé couldn't help but stare at it for a long time. In fact, It really was probably around ten minutes.

From beside her someone said "Hey," quietly.

She didn't process that anyone was speaking until the stranger said it again. Even then all she could do was look straight ahead, not tearing her eyes away from the sky.

"Look at the yellow." she laughed softly. "You never see yellow."

"Right..." the voice said. Only one syllable. It couldn't be. But it was. Naminé turned and her eyes met with Roxas' deep blue ones, looking at her like she'd finally lost it. She'd seen that look before.

She turned away. "Hi." she sighed.

"Hey." he still stood beside her. "So..." he said after a long awkward silence. "You left some stuff at my house."

Her heart fell again. So that's why had come and found her. "Oh." was all she could think of to say.

Roxas looked down. "Uh, yeah, your hairbrush and a blouse." he mumbled.

She turned to him. "Okay."

"Here." he handed her a plastic bag with her items safely inside. Then he let his head drop to look at the ground. Naminé could see a glint of sadness lurking behind his dark eyes.

"Thank you." she nodded.

"And this." Roxas pulled something small from his pocket. He opened her palm and dropped something cold and wire-like into it, closing it up again. Then he smiled. "I can always get you to give me another one." he said.

She looked down and opened her hand. There was her small gold jeweled rose that she had stuck on his windowsill. She closed her eyes. "Roxas..." she looked up.

But he was gone.

She sighed and turned back into the store, losing the energy and all-around will to go anywhere, even if it meant staying with Kairi and Selphie.

"Naminé, let's go! Were going to go watch a movie or something and then Selphie's staying over." Kairi pulled Naminé out of the door again, holding around two or three of the boutique's famous embezzled bags. Naminé was actually surprised that they had both finished their shopping in less than fifteen minutes, as Selphie had a bag too. She could only guess that both of them together with their style-savviness far surpassing Naminé's made them go quicker. Naminé looked at the bag and prayed that there was something not pink in there for her.

So Naminé quietly let Kairi drag her home. They put in a movie and watched it in the dark. Not that it mattered, they both just recollected about years before and chatted about things that have happened since they've been apart. The two old friends had a lot to talk about, so in the wavering light of the film Naminé just drew quietly as they talked far into the night.

Eventually she shut her artbook and walked outside, going completely unnoticed from the distracted friends' eyes. She huddled under a big white fleece blanket and looked up at the night sky, missing her yellow one.

Something caught her eye and she looked up to see glistening golden stars, almost taking her mind off of the sky. They sparkled and seemed to dance under the light of the moon. She smiled at her yellow stars and thought of Roxas.

She wondered if he was watching them too.

* * *

Look at the stars...  
Look how they shine for you.  
And everything you do.  
Yeah, they were all yellow.

I came along...  
I wrote a song for you.  
And all the things you do.  
And it was called _yellow._

Look at the stars...  
Look how they shine for you.  
And all the things that you do.

* * *

I am in love with that song. Anyway sorry about the lack of updates. If you look at my profile it will explain... I'm too lazy to type it out again... haha..

Thanks for everything everyone :)

Next chap. either tomorrow or next day. Cross your fingers for tomorrow.


	22. Airplanes

Naminé didn't have a tremendous amount of fears. Unlike Kairi who was deathly afraid of rusty jewelry, cotton stains, the market, paper cuts, and wolves; Naminé in comparison was tremendously laid-back and calm when it came to ordinary phobias. Or in Kairi's case: really really _unordinary_ phobias.

One thing that scared her was dark water. Just the ominous, abyss of unknown that lurked under the surface creating massive black shadows would set off her fear gauge, and she would have to leave wherever the water was.

Another relatively less minor fear she possessed was a fear of planes. The takeoff would frighten her the most, as would the landing. There was something about flying so high in the air with no suitable law of how they were staying airborne that frightened her to no end. In fact, she had only been on one plane in her life, and it had scared her so  
much as to never go on one again.

Until today.

"God, will you chill?" Kairi spat. She lifted her suitcase with surprising strength that could not have come from her weak arms.

Naminé was shaking vigorously. "I'm sorry."

"It's going to be _fine_." Kairi hissed. "Hand me your bags."

Naminé did as she was told. "What if we drop from thousands of feet up in the-"

"Then we die." Kairi shrugged. "It'll probably can't be much worse than this." she sighed, looking at Sora's heart necklace shining on her neck.

Naminé watched her. "I'm sorry he went home." she said, and she was. She had wanted things to work out for them so much that she had gone oblivious to something that was happening right before her eyes. She stared at the crystal rose wrapped around the handle of her suitcase. "I'm sorry." she said again, this time for herself.

"It doesn't really matter." Kairi said through her teeth.

It did, though. It bothered Naminé so much that she had had trouble sleeping the night before. Kairi had woken her up again quickly and told her she had been having nightmares.

"Why is there so much security here?" Kairi noticed, looking around.

Naminé leaned against a nearby luggage conveyer. "Well there might be bombers or something." she said, which frightened her even more.

Kairi laughed. "Please. If someone wanted to bomb Twilight Town they wouldn't be able to find it on a map."

Ouch. Naminé stirred. "I like small towns." she said a little bit defensively.

"Destiny Islands was big." Kairi smiled, not taking notice to Naminé's comment. "And beautiful. I remember the beach, especially." she stared off into the distance. "We had this fort there. Took us years to build it. We had a seaside shack, and a boat and a dock." subconsciously she rubbed a scar on her leg.

"The boat was supposed to take us somewhere." she shrugged. "We never figured out where. But it was going to be somewhere far away and big and new." she looked around and frowned.

Twilight Town was neither far nor big nor new. In fact, the only way to appreciate Twilight Town to it's fullest was if you grew up there. Had memories. Otherwise it seemed stuffy and small and empty. Naminé couldn't ever imagine leaving Twilight Town for anything, but she could see in Kairi's eyes that she longed to go back home.

"Did you get accepted?" Naminé asked quietly. Kairi had applied to both Twilight Academy and Destiny Springs, in the desperate hope that being denied in one and accepted in the other would make the decision for her.

Kairi waved her arms at her side. "To both." she nodded.

"Do you know which one you're...?" Naminé started to ask.

Kairi shook her head, and then it was silent between the two.

"Gate four now open for boarding." a smooth robotic voice said over the loudspeaker. Beside them someone gathered their bags and walked towards the departure gate.

"Oh!" Naminé cried and clutched her head. Talking with Kairi had almost made her forget what was going to happen in less than ten minutes.

"Calm down!" Kairi yelled and grabbed Naminé's arm, dragging her and  
her suitcase down to the loading bay.

"Tickets." A very bored looking young man droned to the passenger before them and held out his hand. When Kairi and Naminé walked by they caught his eye and he looked up. He looked at Naminé with special interest.

"Hi." he smiled.

"Relax." Kairi sighed and looked at him before Naminé could even think about what to say back. "You're way behind someone."

He crinkled his eyes in confusion. So did Naminé.

"Would you just take our tickets, please?" Kairi said forcefully. The boy scrambled to do as he was told.

"What a freak." Kairi shook her head as she and Naminé walked down the seemingly endless tunnel towards the plane. It was almost torturous as they rolled their suitcases down the platform. It gave Naminé all that more time to reflect on what was waiting at the end.

"What did you mean, Kairi?" Naminé shivered.

"Hm?" Kairi looked at her over her pink-sweater clad shoulder.

"What you said to the boy." Naminé looked down at the grey speckled carpet that was slowly passing by underneath her feet.

"I meant Roxas." she shrugged.

Roxas...? Naminé struggled to connect Kairi's comment to him.

"Here we are." Kairi sing-songed happily as they reached the front of the entrance to the plane.

Naminé gulped. "I don't think I can do this." she shook her head.

Kairi ignored her and walked onto the plane. "What are our seat numbers?" she tried to look at the tickets in Naminé's hand.

"12 and 13b." Naminé said, not really thinking. Her head was beginning to feel light and she swayed dangerously over the seats.

They found their spot easily. There was only one other person on the plane with them. In Twilight Town, there was only one plane that commuted back and forth across other worlds. Most people took the train other places. However, Traverse Town was one of the few that couldn't be reached by train. So they were lucky that the one and only small little plane could take them.

When the two were settled Naminé closed her eyes and dropped her head to the back of the seat. Even as it took off she saw Kairi reading the in-flight magazine and humming softly, not worried about a thing. However, Naminé concluded that her reaction might have been different if someone might have spilled something on her cotton sweater. She silently hoped a passerby might drop their coffee, then Kairi would have been equally as frightened as her.

She clutched the armrest as the plane rose into the sky with a  
deafening roar, and she clamped her eyes shut again. In her mind she imagined all the worst scenarios she'd ever heard about. An engine catching on fire, crashing into the ocean, falling from thousands off feet up in the-

Her thoughts were stopped short. She sat up as the plane was almost vertical and thought about a memory. She almost wished Roxas was still sitting next to her, smiling and talking about anything just to take her mind off of the plane. She smiled as she recalled her very first plane ride awhile ago. She and Roxas had been flying to Radiant Gardens to visit his parents and younger brother.

"I really really don't feel good." she had clutched her throbbing head and slouched over.

"Aw don't be such a baby. The time will just _fly_ by." Roxas had smirked from beside her.

"That's not funny." she hissed.

"I thought it was pretty good..." he mumbled.

"And anyway it's your fault I'm here anyway." she slammed the plane's cover down over the window with a crash.

"You don't wanna meet my family?" he raised his eyebrows.

"Not if they're like you." she smirked back.

"Ah good one." he sat up. "Now let me insult you."

"Go ahead." she sighed. "I won't remember tomorrow."

He just watched her shake and hang onto his shirt with deathgrip- like fingers.

"You're crinkling it." he pointed out.

"Well you can _iron_ it when we _get_ there." she spat and kept her hand where it was.

"God, planes make you unnaturally vicious." he smiled.

She said nothing but stared straight ahead.

He straightened himself in the seat. "So my brother Ventus looks exactly like me." he said out of the blue.

She turned her head slowly. "That's great, Roxas." she said.

"Yeah you'll see when we get there. But if his friends are over you should stay away. Terra and Aqua are kind of..." he struggled for a  
word. "Well anyway just be kinda careful..."

He watched her but she showed no sign of talking back.

"And," he continued. "I can show you everything in the town. It's a fantastic place. There's this fort, where-"

"Oh my God!" Naminé screamed into the air, as if she had forgotten something.

"What?" he yelled back.

"Oh nevermind, I found it." she breathed in relief.

"What?" he asked.

"My IQ." she laid back in the chair.

He laughed. "Got your mind of flying, though, right?" he said.

Yeah... It did. She looked at him. "Thanks." she half-smiled.

"Yeah." he looked down at his crumpled shirt and carefully pried her shaking hand from the fabric. Then he laced his fingers inbetween hers and grasped them tight. She smiled at the ceiling and her body stopped shaking.

The plane's engines burst into life, and a moment later the plane started to move and roll down the runway. Naminé jumped.

"It'll be okay." Roxas promised and held her hand close.

And it was.

Naminé didn't ride on a plane since then. But not because she was scared, but because she knew that this time Roxas wouldn't be there to make it okay.

A _bing_ broke her thoughts. The seatbelt sign flashed away, signaling that it was alright to get up and move. She looked around and saw that the plane was once again horizontal and emanating a steady hum throughout the cabin. She looked out the window and could barely make out her small orange town growing ever distant beyond the sunset. She sighed, wishing she was back home already.

Kairi had already grown bored of the Sky Mall and was now flipping through her latest addition of her favorite fashion magazine.

Naminé sighed and dropped her head on the seat, looking out the window and soaking up as much Twilight Town sun as she could before she left it behind. She thought about Roxas. Maybe he was already there, she thought. This filled her with happiness and anticipation until her mind countered back with, _maybe he isn't coming at all_. If that was the case, he would still be in his house; or skating around town or standing outside Naminé's window, wondering where she was. After all, he was supposed to go with her.

She turned her head sharply, half expecting him to be next to her, smiling and talking about pointless things to make her feel better.

But he wasn't.

* * *

Sorry to freak anyone out who may be going on a plane anytime soon.

Anyway, just another bridging chapter building up to other things~


	23. Messed Up

"Naminé!"

Naminé spun around and her eyes met with a very tall, very beautiful black haired girl. She was jumping up and down while she waved. The girl's warm brown eyes twinkled her welcome as her hair fell about her face.

"Tifa!" Naminé dropped her bag and held her white dress above her knees as she ran to her friend. Tifa was still taller than her but hugged her just the same way she used to.

"You're still wearing black." Naminé laughed and pulled back to look at her.

"Well, you're still wearing white!" Tifa giggled and messed up Naminé's hair. "What's up? You look terrible." she laughed.

Naminé smirked. "I just about died trying to get here but I think I'll be okay." she said.

"Well, c'mon! You can clean yourself up at home." she grabbed Naminé's bag and waved to Kairi, who was standing near the edge of the departure platform. "Hi Kairi!" she yelled, and Naminé could tell she was just trying to be polite.

Kairi looked surprised that Tifa was talking to her. She waved back happily.

"Wanna come?" Tifa laughed and motioned to the street.

Kairi gathered her things awkwardly and stumbled to Naminé's side. "This place is really depressing." she whispered in her ear.

It was true, sadly. The overall darkness of the town seemed to dim down even Kairi's glowing skin and bursting attitude. Naminé looked around. Unlike Twilight Town which seemed to be frozen in a permanent sunset, this town seemed to be stuck in the time just before the sky went black. Streetlights illuminated the square and all the branching streets. Naminé squinted and tried to see it from a different perspective: maybe of someone who had lived there their whole life like Tifa.

It still looked the same.

"Cafe." Tifa motioned to a small coffee shop with a few stragglers outside talking. Naminé suspected that was where Kairi would spend the majority of her stay here, as she was already looking wide-eyed and expectedly into the windows.

"Mail." Tifa patted the top of an odd looking monument as they passed it. "Postcard." she dropped a coin into a small basket atop the stair rail and pinched a heavy cardstock picture, dropping it into Naminé's hand.

"As if anyone writes letters." Kairi mumbled to the mailbox.

Tifa ignored this if she had heard. Then she turned around and spread her arms wide, motioning to the almost empty square. "What do you think?" she smiled.

Kairi examined the ends of her hair. "I think I need to condition." she frowned in the dry air.

Tifa gasped. "That's right, I was taking you to freshen up!" she spun around and resumed walking. "I'll show you to the inn."

Kairi mouthed, "_Inn_?" to Naminé in disbelief, but Naminé just continued walking. Truth be told she didn't really mind where they stayed. In fact, she didn't even care that the unordinary town was darker and dimmer than Twilight Town. Being with Tifa made her happy. It brought out something different in Naminé. Something special. She was unusually happier when Tifa's friendly caring face was beaming brightly around her. And now, it was beaming brighter than Naminé had ever seen it.

"Tifa." Naminé said while they were walking down a long alleyway.

Tifa turned around. "What's up?" she smiled.

Naminé looked down. "I'm very happy for you." she said.

Tifa beamed. "So am I." she whispered. Then she bent her head down. "I'm also pretty scared." she laughed nervously.

Naminé laughed. "I'm sure that is natural." she said.

"Cloud makes me so happy." she sighed and looked ahead again. "Besides." she clapped her hands and smirked. "He needs someone to look after him."

"You mean make sure he puts his pants on?" Naminé laughed, then slapped her hand over her mouth. She wasn't supposed to speak of it.

"What?" Tifa looked at her.

"Nothing." Naminé turned away quickly.

Tifa kicked Naminé's suitcase. "So. Where's Roxie hiding?" she smiled. "I can't wait to see him."

This made Naminé instantly frown. Suddenly the dark streets looked even darker and the passing windows appeared more ominous and deceptive. "I don't know." she said quietly and looked the other way.

Tifa was silent for a moment. "You don't know?" she asked, peering her head to see Naminé's face.

Naminé nodded and turned to Tifa, offering up the best smile she could muster. "I'm sure he'll be here." she assured, not really believing it herself.

Tifa nodded slowly, as if expecting something was up but not pressing the matter for more information. "Okay." she said.

They walked for aways in silence, passing various lit houses and lampposts lighting up the streets. Naminé wondered how she was going to spend a week here, let alone one night without the sunshine. Kairi seemed equally as worried, but about other things. She was looking high up at the sky to he lack of a sun and rubbing her face, already missing it's skin- healthy glow. As she lagged behind she finger-combed her perfectly conditioned hair, as if it would suddenly dry up and fall out if she wasn't constantly holding it in place. Naminé watched her with interest.

"Kairi." she whispered. Kairi looked up. "Having fun yet?" Naminé smiled.

"Let me put it this way, Naminé." Kairi crossed her arms in front of her chest and exhaled, walking ahead. "When it's time to go back, I will let you know."

Naminé shivered, knowing she would have to comply eventually. And by the disgusted and repulsed look Kairi was giving the entire town, that could be any second now.

"Give it a chance." Naminé smiled softly. "Maybe you'll grow to like it." she tried, but it was hard trying to talk about something she didn't believe in herself. She wanted to go back home just as much as Kairi wanted to, only much less for different reasons.

"Here we are!" Tifa cried out loud. Naminé and Kairi looked up to see her motioning to a great red door almost hidden amongst the throne of shadowed windows and musky walkways. Naminé looked high up to see a great red roof looming overhead, and to either side of her were identical doors running down a raised platform.

"This is your room." Tifa closed her eyes and smiled brightly.

It was silent. Naminé was about to open her mouth to speak but was interrupted by Kairi.

"No, seriously, where is it?" she laughed.

"Hello!" someone gently pushed into their little circle. "I don't think we've met!" she flicked her wrist gracefully in a wave.

"Hi Aerith." Tifa mumbled. Her face had turned expressionless and her tone resembled the attitude of someone who suddenly didn't want to be there.

Aerith extended her long arm to Kairi's, then Naminé's. She spoke with a perfectly white smile and brightly captivating green eyes. Her  
flawless skin seemed to emanate a steady glow even in the darkest of alleyways. Naminé was actually amazed at how much Aerith looked like an angel under the creamy beam of the streetlights, and had to blink a couple of times when she looked at her. Naminé wished that she'd get some dirt or a zit on her face so she would be easier to look at.

Aerith's long brunette braid slapped Kairi across the arm when she spun around to look at Tifa. "Hey, fiancé!" she cried out, and enveloped her in a hug.

Tifa just let out a small sqeak as her arms flailed at her sides. "Aerith!" she gasped.

"Listen." Aerith pulled away. "I'm going to go finish the flower arrangements for the bridesmaids and you go get a manicure, or..." she looked Tifa up and down. "Get your hair done. Or moisturize." she pinched Tifa's pale cheeks.

"Nice meeting you." she gushed to Kairi and Naminé, then flounced in her pink dress down the dark alley, lighting the blackness as she went along.

It was silent as Tifa glared at the spot where she had left. "I think I just figured out the true meaning of hate." she murmered, unlocking the door.

"She's so pretty." Kairi gawked. Of course, Kairi would like her. They were almost exactly the same.

"Yeah It's repulsive." Tifa spat and opened the door.

She crossed her arms as she waited for Naminé or Kairi to say something. "Well here it is."

It was certainly... vintage.

"Well it's certainly _vintage_." Kairi released her breath in a sort of stifled laugh.

"Great, huh?" Tifa smiled and patted the top of one of the cream-colored duvets, motioning to the blue and green walls. "I'm sure you'll grow to love it."

Naminé turned to Tifa. "Thank you for everything." she smiled sincerely.

Tifa smiled brightly. "Anything for little Namie." she ruffled her head of blonde hair. "I just hope Roxas gets here soon." she frowned at the door.

"Hey, beautiful women!" a dark-haired tall boy walked into the room followed by Cloud wearing a worried look on his face as he watched the boy.

"Leon, wait!" he lagged behind.

The boy named Leon walked in anyway and plopped himself on one of the beds. It just so happened to be the one farthest from the window that Kairi had claimed as her own with her bag. When she thought Naminé wasn't looking she moved it discreetly to the other bed.

"How come I wasn't invited to this inn-warming?" Leon smirked and kept his eyes on Naminé. He had a deep authorative voice, but it was traced with subtle hints of snide remarks and light humor that Naminé only could detect because of how much she heard it in Roxas.

"Because." Tifa pinched Leon's vest sleeve with pinched fingers like it was covered in something disgusting. "We only invited the_ pretty_ girls." then she shoved him off the bed with surprising strength where he lay on the floor chuckling wildly into the carpet.

"I told him to stay at home." Cloud shook his head.

"But he couldn't figure out how to lock the door." Leon laughed loudly and sat up against the wall.

"Well." Tifa walked behind Cloud and put her arms around his waist.  
"At least he remembered his pants this morning."

Cloud's eyes grew wide and subconsciously shimmied his body away from the crowd in the room now staring at his black pants. "Naminé you said you wouldn't speak of it!" he shouted.

Naminé pretended to have a raving cough and didn't answer him.

Leon walked over to Naminé and stood unnaturally near her, which was much to close for Naminé. "You look tremendously familiar." he smiled.

"Do I?" Naminé stepped back a few feet towards Kairi, who had already lost interest in the conversations and was looking at her nails.

"Mmhm. I think I've seen you before." he whispered and moved a little closer.

"Right..." Naminé ducked under Leon's arm and ran to the other side of the room.

"Yeah. In my dreams." he smirked.

Damn. Clichés.

"Dude!" Cloud shouted impatiently.

Leon laughed. "Hey, I'm just kidding." he said to Naminé.

"Yeah." Tifa walked over to him. "He couldn't get a girl even if  
suddenly turned attractive." she whacked him across the head.

"Hey." he laughed and rubbed his head.

"Besides, Namie's marrying Roxie. It's already decided." Tifa smiled.

Once again Naminé's face fell and she didn't feel like standing up. She sat down on the bed and looked at her hands. Next to her Kairi tried to pat her on the back affectionately.

Cloud cleared his throat and put his hand around Tifa's waist. "C'mon guys, let's let them get settled."

"Yeah, and Yuffie owes me munny." Leon jumped up and ran out of the door, stumbling on his way out.

"See you, Naminé." Cloud said quietly and gave a half-hearted wave to Kairi on his way out.

"Sleep nice!" Tifa hugged Naminé tightly then walked out with Cloud, shutting the door behind her.

It was quiet as Naminé stared at the place where everyone had left. She sighed and rolled her eyes to the ceiling, willing the oncoming tears to go back into her head.

"I miss home." Kairi pulled the covers over her body and dropped her head on the soft pillow.

"You don't want to be here?" Naminé snuggled in next to her.

"I did _not_ say that." Kairi closed her eyes.

"Yes you did." Naminé laughed.

Kairi snickered. "_Do you_, really?" she asked.

Naminé tried hard to think about it, but she was closing her eyes and slowly slipping grip on what was happening.

"Naminé." She felt Kairi nudge her arm gently. "Hey. Are you okay?" she said softly.

Naminé opened her eyes and was silent for awhile. "I miss him, Kairi." she whispered, feeling tears in her eyes again.

"Me too." Kairi smiled sadly. "Not, Roxas-" she tried to clarify.

Naminé laughed. "I know." she assured.

They were so messed up.

"We are _so_ messed up." Kairi sighed.

"That we are." Naminé agreed, then closed her eyes and pictured Roxas in her mind getting hit by a car. It didn't help, because there wasn't really anything she could be mad at him yet. Then she imagined herself getting hit by a car, which actually cheered her up. Then she opened her eyes and saw Kairi fast asleep, then eventually closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep.

* * *

This chapter took me an annoyingly long time. It was hard for some reason... I have to make it good without boring while still adding my signature blend of dark humor. Haha.

Anyway, I really hope everyone likes this chapter. I kinda think it's funny ahah.

Once again I do not play Final Fantasy so even though I really love Tifa I don't know much of her personality except that she's really protective over Cloud. (And I didn't mean to bag on Aeris, either. I actually bawled when she died.)


	24. What is it that you see?

"A little help, Kairi?" Naminé shuffled through the tiny doorway from the inn hall with her arms stock full of shopping bags. Surprising enough, Kairi had finally found a good use of the town.

"I, for one, was pleasantly surprised." Kairi floated into the room. "I didn't think they would have _anything _decent."

"Kairi!" Naminé shouted as mounds of shirts fell to the carpet.

"You're droppin' stuff." Kairi pointed to the floor.

Naminé set the bags on the bed then collapsed beside them just as someone ran through the opposite door from where they had entered.

"Naminé, come quick!" Cloud shouted urgently.

Naminé brought her head to her chest. "As in now?" she mumbled.

"Hurry!" Cloud urged and ran back outside. Naminé's eyes passed silently over the window at the sky, and she laid there for several seconds, her mind in a completely different place. She was much happier than she had been the day before, and the light outside had been a large part of it. When she had woken up that monday morning there had been a bright light shining on her face, and Kairi was running around the room in happy circles. There was at least some light in the sky: the color not a beautiful blue but not a depressing black either. It was more of a dark blue- the time just before the sunset but not quite the night. It was a pleasant change from yesterday, and that, combined with the fact that she hadn't thought about Roxas all day had made her feel a considerable amount better. But she still felt like her heart was miles and miles away in Twilight Town, waiting to catch up to her body.

"Do you want me to carry you, because I will." Cloud shouted from outside.

"It's probably not a big deal." Kairi sat on the bed and tried to examine her hair. "Are my roots showing?" she frowned.

"Oh yes." Naminé sighed and walked out the door.

What she saw startled her a little bit. Clearly not as much as Cloud, who was now shaking profusely and had forgotten to close his mouth.

"What the hell is going on?" he shouted into the open space below the walkway. His voice reverberated across the empty courtyard then finally settled into the deep basin of the square's fountain, melting away with the burbling water.

Naminé laughed awkwardly. "Wow, that is so weird." she smiled uncomfortably.

Suddenly Leon came traipsing up the stairs to the door whistling a distant tune. He was holding a small bouquet of pink and red flowers hat still had the price tag on them. He put his hand on the gold doorknob and was seconds away from tearing it open when he saw Naminé and Cloud facing the square, dumbstruck expressions plastered on their  
faces.

"Oh yes." he smirked and leaned on the rail, looking down. "That's going in the wedding toast."

"It's not funny." Cloud ran his hand through his spikes. "This is Karma. Clearly I did something wrong." he put his head in his hands.

Kairi came out with a mirror placed over her head, eyes struggling to see over her brunette locks. "Naminé we need to get to a convenience store quick because-holy crap!" she shrieked and the mirror clattered to the ground.

"For the record, I did _not_ invite them." Naminé clarified.

"That thing is huge!" Tifa appeared behind Leon and made Naminé scream.

"Well why don't we just invite the whole town?" Cloud yelled angrily and threw his hands up in the air.

"What did I miss?" A bouncy, bubbly girl with short black hair ran up the steps by threes as if on queue. She had khaki shorts and an old pair of knee high lace-up sneakers that squeaked slightly whenever she stepped. She was on the shorter side; probably smaller than Kairi. Her face exploded with energy and she wore a broad smile the whole time she was standing there.

"Hey, Yuffie." Tifa smiled and crossed her arms.

"Hey, you owe me fifty munny." Leon spun around and grabbed her shoulder.

"Oh my God!" Cloud shouted, clearly being ignored.

"I don't know what you're dribbling about." Yuffie spat to Leon, then turned towards Naminé. "Hey there." she beamed and instead of extending her hand she enveloped Naminé in a tight hug. She smelled strongly like wood and acacia berries, and even when she pulled back Naminé still tasted it in her mouth. It made her gag.

"Is anyone else seeing this?" Cloud motioned to the courtyard again.

"I'll go talk to them." Naminé assured, then picked up the shattered mirror off the ground, securing it in Kairi's hands.

"These are for you." Leon extended the flowers towards Naminé with a smile. She just looked at them incredulously then kept on walking, leaving him rejected and hand outstretched.

Down below Kairi and Naminé's room there was a colossal sign. Not a regular sign, and not tastefully done, as Naminé's artistic mindset couldn't help but noticing. It was stretched thinly across two streetlight poles and covered almost the entire length of the courtyard. This wasn't the main aspect of it that immediately caught one's eye, though. Perhaps it was the bright yellow words that read, "Have a great marriage," in drippy paint. Or maybe it was the fact that the whole thing was on fire.

"Axel!" Naminé screamed. He didn't stir from where he was lying on the park bench. However, since Naminé's scream was like a normal person's slight raise of voice, she wasn't expecting much. And when she got closer she saw that he was fast asleep, drooling with his arm over his eyes.

She might regret this. She swung her arm swiftly and knocked him across the head, sending him to the ground where he landed with a thud on top of the back of Demyx. From up behind her she heard Kairi laugh hysterically. No, never mind. She actually enjoyed it.

"Oh man, get off!" Demyx shouted, but from underneath Axel it sounded  
more like "Ough nann kett oppphhhh."

"What the heck is wrong with you?" Axel whisper-hissed and got off of Demyx, sitting back down on the bench. "Hitting people."

"What's wrong with me? What is wrong with _you_?" she yelled at his tired face.

He just looked straight ahead like he couldn't remember what she was talking about. His red spikes were slowly snapping back into place, like time had slowed down just to wait for his hair.

"Axel!" Naminé hissed. "What are you doing here?"

"Why am I the one on the ground?" Demyx shouted from under Axel's boots.

"Well we sorta needed a vacation." he smiled unconvincingly.

"Right." Naminé shoved her hands in her jeans and glanced back at Cloud over her shoulder, arms crossed and a menacing scowl over his face.

"We wanted to congratulate them?" Demyx tried, looking nervously at the crowd gathered on the terrace.

"Right." she sighed again and looked back at the giant banner. Logically there was no possible way it could be flaming like it was.  
The red and orange fires licked the top of the paper and created large smoke rings that were darkening the mid-afternoon sky. She wondered how it wasn't burning to the ground.

"We would have had it up sooner if Demyx hadn't forgotten to buy the fire- resistant paper." Axel sneered.

With that blank cleared up, Naminé walked around to the other side of the park bench where the heat wasn't burning her face. "Why are you _really_ here, though?" she peered above at the banner, the painted words liquefying and creating small yellow puddles on the courtyard cobblestone.

Axel sighed. "We came with Roxas." he rubbed his head.

Naminé stopped. Slowly her heart shifted for a brief moment. "Roxas is here?" she asked slowly.

"Yeah, he got a room. The jerk wouldn't sleep outside with us!" Axel shouted towards the inn, as if trying to get someone to hear.

Naminé shook her head. "He's staying in the inn?" she questioned. "That inn, right there?" she pointed.

"Yes, Naminé." Axel nodded and spoke slowly, like she was having trouble hearing the words, not comprehending them.

All she could think of to say was, "Oh." and she stood there dumbfounded for several seconds. Roxas... was here?

"Well I think it's high time we get out of here, Dem." Axel hurriedly grabbed his duffel bag and can of gasoline.

"Right with you." Demyx pulled up his aqua pajama pants and scurried off behind him.

"Wait, you have to get rid of this!" Cloud shouted to the two as they ran off down the lane. Quickly before they were almost out of sight he snatched the already broken mirror from Kairi's hands and threw it in their direction. It blazed Axel's shoulder and he yelled loudly, clutching his arm. Then they both disappeared beyond the bend.

"Damn!" Cloud yelled.

"Good shot." Leon nodded.

"What are you talking about, I was aiming for his head." Cloud put his head on the balcony rail and let his arms dangle below him.

Naminé walked up after several more minutes, still considerably shocked from the news. "Sorry." was all she mumbled.

"That's okay, I'll call Cid. He can take it down." Tifa smiled. Then she walked over to Cloud. "It'll be fine." she bent down to his face. "Promise."

He smiled as he lifted his head. "Okay." he said. Then he leaned over and kissed her.

"Okay, Aerith wants me to look at her bouquet examples." Tifa sneered in a look of almost disgust. "See you later." she waved to everyone, then walked down the steps. Yuffie followed her, (running, of course) down the terrace as she called goodbye to Naminé, who was still to shocked to yell back.

"What am I going to do?" Cloud groaned as soon as Tifa had left and shrouded his eyes with his hand.

"I got you some flowers." Leon sympathized, and handed Cloud the bouquet.

Cloud looked up. "Save it, man."

"Gotcha." Leon tossed the packaged blossoms over the edge and ran down the steps after Yuffie, screaming about the fifty munny.

"I'm going to go call Cid." Cloud clapped his hands and skipped down the steps, too.

The crowd was clearing out.

Kairi just gazed where her broken mirror lie on the ground, it's shattered contents lying all about her feet and across the stairs. "You owe me a new mirror." she walked back inside still trying to examine her hair.

Naminé sighed and rested against the rail. Nobody was left but her, and suddenly she felt very alone. When she thought nobody could possibly see she sat upon the rail and jumped down to the concrete below, landing nicely on the stone. The jump gave her an air of weightlessness, which felt good. She was just about to do it again when something small and yellow caught her eye. She held her breath as it floated past her face with the breeze then settled for a moment on her arm. It was a butterfly, she smiled. The exact same shade as the yellow sky she had seen back home.

She took a step forward to follow it after it had flown off her arm. She heard a crunch. She looked down to see several of Leon's flowers broken at the stems and the petals scurrying around her gold sandals. She bent down and picketed through them. They were mostly random daisies and lilies, Naminé never really cared for such flowers unless they were the ones in her garden. (Which didn't matter now, considering all that was left there was a lone gazania and a couple of dead tulips that Kairi had trampled.)

Those were the ones she had crushed. However, hidden amongst the see-through silver paper was a tiny red rose, undaunted by Naminé's step. Excitedly she plucked it from the pile and looked at it. It was small, still growing. But beautiful. She smiled and held onto it tightly.

She remembered the butterfly and looked up to see it flying blindly and gracefully toward the crackling and snapping fire.

"Wait, no!" she yelled and dropped the rose, chasing the butterfly with arms outstretched. If that butterfly died, if it was burned in a crisp, she felt a ridiculous sense of foreboding that she would die with it. That little bug felt like her one connection to home, and she couldn't afford to lose it. It was the one thing right now that reminded her of her life back home a long time ago; the one where her cousin was always annoyed with her but then they had those fulfilling periodic pieces of friendship, that came out exactly when Naminé needed them. The one where she didn't have to worry about losing Roxas to anyone else, even herself. The one where she had never even met Sora, therefore not ruining his life. The one where she was happy. "No!" she shouted desperately and tried to jump up and cup it in her hands. It slipped through her fingers once or twice and kept flapping it's tiny patterned wings towards the fire.

"Whaaaat are you doing?" someone asked from behind her.

One, two, three, four... she counted the a's in her mind. There was too many for it to be anyone else.

Roxas.

She spun around talking. "It's going to burn." she yelled. "I can't let it burn." she suddenly felt tired from running around. She looked up at the sky. It was getting dark again, and the spirits she received from the morning light were sinking lower inside her.

"What's going to burn?" Roxas said quietly. He was standing over the broken pile of flowers, bending down to pick up the dropped rose. He was wearing a pair of faded diesel jeans and another one of those navy and white baseball shirts that matched the color of his eyes. His hair looked ragged and wind blown, but still spiked and perfectly in place. He looked like her had never left Twilight Town.

"Everything." she sighed.

Roxas walked over to the smoldering banner and jumped high; much higher than Naminé could have. He had long, skinny legs that successfully disguised muscles, enabling him to do tricks on his skateboard, and also jump alot farther up. He snatched the butterfly by carefully grasping it in his hands right before it flew into it's death, then released it unharmed onto Naminé's arm.

She just looked at it walking up and down her hand, perfectly safe save for a little bout of dizziness. "You're late." she said to Roxas, not looking up to him standing over her.

"I had to pick something up." he said calmly. She looked up at him.

"Fireproof paper?" she asked him, eyebrows arched. "That slowed you down?"

"More like Kairi-proof." Roxas stood on his toes.

Naminé was surprised and also slightly worried that she knew exactly what he meant. "You brought Sora?" she smiled.

He scratched the back of his head. "Yeah..." he said and looked her in the eyes. "He didn't really want to come."

That went without saying.

It was silent for awhile. Then Naminé smiled. "He really is Kairi-proof, isn't he?"

"The one and only." Roxas laughed.

"At lease there's someone." Naminé shrugged.

"Yeah." Roxas nodded once. "He's really pretty perfect for smiled.

"Where is he?" Naminé asked him.

"Oh, up there." he replied, pointing towards the inn. "And also." he leaned towards her. "I didn't invite Axel or Demyx. And I really didn't tell them... to do that." he motioned to the flaming white sign which now read, "h ve gr t marria," with droopy yellow letters.

Naminé looked up at the sky again, which was now almost as black as it had been at this time yesterday. She felt a tiny flutter on her arm and looked down to see the butterfly fly off of her and into the opposite direction it had come.

"Oh." she sighed sadly as it sailed effortlessly over the blinking streetlights and until she could see it no more.

"So maybe you'd wanna... go for a walk or something?" Roxas shuffled in the dirt.

She looked at him. "Wouldn't want you to get lost again." she smiled then subconsciously felt her chest wound with the tips of her fingers.

"Ah." he put his head back. "When you pulled me down those stairs."

She laughed. "Please. _You_ were fine."

He was silent at this for awhile. He only stared at her as she watched the tops of the now smoldering ashes of the fire drift off into the night.

"Naminé, why do you act like you don't care about me?" Roxas looked at her with almost impatience in his voice.

The sudden and abrupt question made her head snap back. Even then she tried to open her mouth, but nothing came out. She just stood there gawking at him, no doubt looking incredibly stupid.

Then she turned back around and pulled her hair behind her ear. "I miss home." she said to the ground, not answering his question.

"Me too." he said, then slowly, as if deciding whether or not to do it, he handed her the rose.

She smiled. Then she exhaled sharply. "I see you." she smiled.

"What?" he looked confused. Naminé noticed she liked they way he looked when he was like that. Not only did it make him kind of cute, but it also gave him an air of complete cluelessness, therefore making him more naive. And he was always less threatening to Naminé like that.

She had always been a little scared of him. More so when they met, but they feeling never really went away in the back of her mind. He was so much of a perfect person to her that it always made her frightened, but in a good way. And the moments they shared together would always make her slightly scared too, that at any moment they might blow away with the wind, never to pass by again.

Suddenly she wanted to grab them before they flew away. She flung her arms around Roxas' warm neck and pressed her lips to his. She knew without a doubt she would probably regret the brash action later, but at the time it felt so right to do. He seemed shocked for a moment at how sudden it was, but a second later he kissed her back. She melted into him, and suddenly her scar stopped hurting and the fire died down to almost nothing. There were golden stars in the sky. They were clearer here than anywhere else she'd ever been.

She pulled away and they both rested their foreheads against each other, smiling. "When I look at the world," she said quietly, "I see you."

And she did.

* * *

I know what you're thinking.

You're thinking, _Lara_? Where the *cuss word* have you _been_?

Well I have the answer to _that_. And the answer is-

:)


	25. Metaphors

Summary: When trying to help someone else, she can never seem to help herself.

_Chap 24: She pulled away and they both rested their foreheads against each other, smiling. "When I look at the world," she said quietly, "I see you."_

_And she did._

* * *

"Get up." someone said from above Naminé and forcefully smacked her upside the head with a pillow. Naminé heard a metal clang and clutched the side of her head, jolting awake with a start and a yell.

"What's _in_ there?" she shouted, and through her blurred vision Naminé could make out Kairi clutching an off-white pillowcase in her fist, standing above her with a smile.

At Naminé's question Kairi looked curious then dug into the fabric and pulled out a cylindrical, gold metal tube with a long black wire trailing from the end. "Look, Naminé, I found my curling iron!" she squealed happily then ran in the bathroom to curl her hair.

"Ow." Naminé massaged her throbbing scalp and felt a small bump. "What was that for?" Naminé shouted towards the bathroom.

Kairi came out with a piece of her auburn hair wrapped all the way up the iron. "That annoyingly hyper girl wants us for fittings or something."

"Aerith?" Naminé sat up and yawned.

Kairi frowned disapprovingly. "No."

Naminé forgot that Kairi liked Aerith as some sort of grotesque* roll model for her future.

"Anyway, hurry up because we have to leave pretty soon." Kairi walked back in the bathroom.

"Like how soon?" Naminé pulled on a white sweatshirt.

Kairi looked at her watch. "Seven minutes."

This made Naminé trip and fall over the bed. "Seven minutes!"

"Give or take a few seconds." Kairi hummed and tried to curl her bangs. "Damn!" she skimmed her finger and dropped the iron on the counter.

"It didn't occur to you to wake me up earlier?" Naminé pulled intensely  
through her suitcase.

"Well you were out really late last night." Kairi sniffed and unplugged the curling iron, staring at her singed finger.

Naminé stopped throwing clothes and slowly lay up against the bed, staring at her hands. She had been home late. She didn't know exactly what time, but it was closer to this morning than last night.

"What happened?" Kairi asked excitedly and jumped on one of the beds, making it sway dangerously below her. Anyone could normally mistake Kairi's tone for one of a caring cousin, but Naminé knew she just wanted gossip.

"Nothing." Naminé shrugged and folded a few skirts for something to do.

But Kairi knew better. Naminé never folded clothes. It was the one household chore that Kairi took the liberty of taking on herself. She slapped the pleated fabric out of Naminé's hands. "What happened?" she insisted again.

Naminé had told Kairi about Roxas' being there. She had, of course, left out the part about Sora though. And just about everything else.

"We talked?" Naminé tried.

"Naminé." Kairi laughed and shimmied herself off the bed. "Either you need to learn to tell the truth or become a better liar." then she stopped and smiled. "Like me."

Naminé didn't have the heart to tell her that wasn't really anything to be proud of.

"I'm serious." Naminé said.

"So am I." Kairi snatched her purse off the tiny chair next to the door and flung it over her shoulder quickly, making several tubes of lip gloss fall to the ground.

"What if I'm scared?" Naminé asked quietly, looking at the ground. She wasn't talking to anyone in particular... she just wanted to know.

Kairi thought this over. "So what if you are?" she smiled finally. "That's when it's most exciting."

Naminé looked up. "Are we on the same page?" she asked, confused.

"What page?" Kairi turned to her quickly.

"No, there isn't a page, I just meant-"

"What?"

"I mean- are you following me?" Naminé asked.

"Following you where? You aren't even dressed." Kairi pointed out.

"Nevermind, Kairi." Naminé snatched a pair of shorts and her sandals.

"Okay, well I'll be outside." Kairi sang, than pranced out the door.

"I'm right behind you." Naminé said, then instantly regretted it.

"Wait what?" Kairi shouted and spun around in shock, but Naminé had already slammed the door shut.

While she was getting dressed Naminé thought about what Kairi had said. "'So what if you're afraid?'"

Granted, Kairi could have been talking about something totally unrelated, but somehow it clicked in Naminé that whatever happened with Roxas, it was going to be okay. Last night she knew she was going to wake up this morning and regret some things (Which she did.) and start freaking out. (Which she was.) But what Kairi said about not being afraid did make her feel a little bit better, and force her to see that there really wasn't anything to be afraid over.

It was all going to be okay. She left the bathroom and walked over to Kairi, shutting the door of the inn behind her. She glanced towards the courtyard and saw that Tifa's friend had successfully gotten the flaming sign down sometime that morning.

She turned to Kairi. "Let's roll." Naminé said for fun.

"What?"

She smiled.

* * *

"Tifa, do not _move_!" Aerith yelled and tried to pinpoint the general location of Tifa's ear so she could put a tiny yellow flower above it.

"You poked me!" Tifa clutched the side of her head.

"Because you _moved_!" Aerith screamed.

"Ohhh my God." Yuffie sighed and folded back another page of her magazine, crossing her legs on the round windowsill. All five of the girls were in Aerith's flower shop's back room where Aerith would make bouquets and veils for weddings. Kairi was sitting on the floor finger-combing her hair and pretending like she cared what was going on, while Naminé's mind was somewhere else.

"Hey you're next!" Tifa warned.

"Don't act like it's such a terrible thing." Aerith took a second to re-braid her long brown hair, which ended up taking several minutes. "You look amazing."

Naminé stood up from her chair and got a better angled look at Tifa. She did look amazing. Beautiful, in fact. Aerith had laced Tifa's silky black hair with white and yellow flowers that braided up and down her tresses. She looked like a fairy queen or something the way the light shone on her face.

"Cloud is really lucky." Naminé said quietly.

Tifa smiled broadly and looked in the mirror. "Thanks, Naminé." she said. "I am too."

For a second Naminé envied Tifa and Cloud. They seemed to have it all perfect, and Tifa was never afraid of it all suddenly coming undone.

"If you don't move you don't get hurt." Aerith pulled Tifa's head  
towards her.

"Well, Aerith. If only I had thought of _that_." Tifa snapped.

From outside the circular window of the tiny room someone wolf-whistled at Yuffie's long exposed legs. Yuffie snapped her head up and peered outside. She hissed, "Leon."

"Pervert." Aerith finger-pinched some lace on Tifa's head.

"I'll be right back." Yuffie sighed loudly then pushed open the heavy wood door of the back room. There was a jingle of the front door and she was outside.

"Shhh..." Tifa put her hand in the air and waited, a grin spreading over her face.

Naminé smiled. She really had missed her old friends like Tifa. They brought out happiness in her that being by herself could never fill. Or with Kairi for that matter.

"If you ever, ever, _ever_ do that again, I swear to God..." Naminé heard Yuffie scream. Then something that sounded like a kick, a cry of pain, then Yuffie was back in the room.

"That'll hurt when he moves." She resumed reading.

Tifa laughed. "What was he doing?"

"No doubt whatever those little pervert Leons do." Aerith sighed and slapped her hands against her hips. "Stop moving."

"He and Cloud were showing this blonde dude around." Yuffie rubbed her sneaker-clad foot.

Naminé's eyes shot up and suddenly Kairi looked incredibly interested.

Naminé panicked. _Oh no, please don't..._ she thought.

"What did he look like?" Kairi asked.

_Damn._

"He looked exactly like Cloud, actually." Yuffie laughed once.

"Roxie!" Tifa yelled, then tore away from Aerith's prodding hands. A huge portion of the previously completed flower braid unraveled at the seam and spread itself across the floor.

"TIFA!" Aerith yelled and ran after her, tripping over the unveiled petals and string.

"Wait!" Yuffie slammed her magazine down and followed.

Kairi looked at Naminé, who just stared back. Then she shrugged and ran out behind them too.

And then there was one. "Damn." Naminé yelled to the empty room, then followed the fallen path of ripped fabric outside.

She arrived at the scene rather uncomfortably. It seemed everyone was waiting for her to come outside, and all seven were staring at her except for Leon, who was writhing in pain on the ground.

Cloud just looked pitiful and guilty, motioning to Roxas and shrugging. Roxas forced a truly awkward smile, and Kairi was smirking behind her curly hair.

"What's going on?" Naminé furrowed her eyebrows.

"Well, we saw Yuffie just about de-masculate Leon." Cloud pointed to the ground where Leon was yelling, "Demon!" and motioning to Yuffie.

That wasn't really what she meant.

Aerith crossed her arms in front of her chest and looked down angrily at her masterpiece strewn all about everyone's feet. "I'm not cleaning this up." she said defiantly, like anyone was really listening anyway.

It seemed that in the short while whilst Naminé was inside Cloud had whispered to Tifa the events of her and Roxas' breakup. She just stared horrifically and unmoving at Naminé, periodically trying to speak, but to no advantage in any conversation.

It was painfully silent. That is, it was. Until they party was joined by one more.

"What's going on?" Sora smiled his adorable puppy-dog smile and walked up to Roxas, shoving his hands in his pockets. His bright blue eyes searched every shocked face in the group.

Suddenly Kairi stopped her smirking and stopped playing with her hair, her arms dropping limply at her sides. Naminé would have laughed at Kairi's sudden run into bad luck if the exact same thing hadn't been happening to her.

"What's going on...?" Sora asked again half-heartedly.

"How simple do you want it?" Cloud asked.

"So Leon can understand." Roxas replied.

"Oh my."

"Yeah, I thought it might be hard." Roxas sighed.

Then all was quiet. Even Leon stopped moaning and sat up, holding his head between his knees.

Aerith pulled Tifa by the hand in the direction of the store. "Well, have fun all. I have to fashion the bride a new veil." she said bitterly. Then Yuffie skipped back inside, followed by a very rigid and expressionless Kairi. Cloud helped Leon up and the boys said goodbye and walked in the other direction.

Naminé breathed a heavy sigh of relief. She was almost out of it...

"Naminé." Roxas grabbed her by the wrist and held her from retreating back inside.

_Ohhh, so close._

When she turned around Roxas didn't say anything, he just looked at her with a smile. "Better my hand than your head." he said, then covered her forehead with his hand, kissing it instead of her.

Well... she couldn't argue with that.

It was better that he didn't kiss her right then, and he knew it. Naminé smiled and wrapped her arms around his waist, hugging him tightly. He put his head ontop of hers and she could feel the steady rhythm of his heart, for the second time in her life.

When he pulled back he was smiling his amazing smile, that she so wonderfully loved and so amazingly missed. Then he waved to her and ran off down the street after Cloud and the others. In a sort of daze  
Naminé found herself walking not back into the shop, but instead down the opposite street from whence she had came.

* * *

Naminé was tired. More tired than she had ever felt, and she hadn't even done anything. For most of the day she had walked around the town by herself: gone shopping, gotten coffee, drawn. She was happily surprised at a couple of her sketches of the town that turned out so nicely. Something to remember it when she got back home.

It was well into dark-time when she got to the inn, and by the looks of it Kairi hadn't gotten back either. She stood at the door and glanced behind her. The dimly lit courtyard was cleared away and rather empty looking. Naminé wasn't sure if she liked it. She wondered where Axel and Demyx had gone...

"Hey." a dark voice said from behind her. She screamed and dropped everything she had been carrying, where it clattered to the ground. She heard her own voice reverberate off of the nearby buildings and through the courtyard, finally settling on a figure leaning against the rail.

Timidly she squinted to see who it was.

"_Sora_?" she exclaimed. She would have never guessed the low, black voice could have come from him. She bent down to pick up her things. "You have to stop doing that."

"I'm sorry." Sora jumped down from the rail and helped Naminé gather her belongings. "I didn't mean to scare you."

"That's alright." she smiled, though she doubt he could see.

It was silent for a moment.

"Wow, that was pretty uncomfortable earlier." he laughed timidly.

"Yeah." Naminé looked at her feet. "You have no idea."

Sora was looking at her through the dark. It was very quiet... all Naminé could hear was the steady flickering on of the streetlights, and now and then a clicking of a lone cricket.

"She cheated on me." Sora finally said sporadically.

She looked up. "What?"

"Kairi." Sora sat back against the rail. "She cheated on me and I forgave her."

Naminé moved closer to the rail. "She..."

"Yeah." he nodded. "Neither of us really broke up with the other. We just kind of drifted... and then one day I realized that I loved her. So I went to see her but they told me she'd gone." he laughed softly at the memory. "Took me about a year to work up the courage to come to find her."

This was all news to Naminé. Kairi would never have spoken about this, and even if she had her version would have been too warped by guilt and regret to be the truth. Naminé knew Kairi. And she knew that if she lied to herself too many times she started to believe it true. And Kairi would have lied to herself about that.

"She loves you too." Naminé said after awhile, looking ahead. "I know she's sorry for what happened."

Sora lifted his head slightly. "You think?"

She looked at him and smiled. "I know."

He laughed once than looked down. "She really is a mystery." he shook his head.

"That's why you love her." she said.

He looked up. "Yeah." he said softly. "I do." then he jumped off the rail and vaulted gracefully over the pole to the ground below.

"Thanks, Naminé." Sora smiled up at her.

She put her arms on the rail and looked down at him. "Don't blow it." she smiled.

"Wait, what?" he yelled back.

She just smiled and turned to her door, digging around in her purse for her keys. Kairi was right. She didn't need to be scared.

Naminé searched the rest of her belongings for the key to the room, but couldn't find it anywhere. She dumped a couple of her bags upside-down and their contents sprang in a million directions, but it wasn't there. Then it hit her.

It was inside.

She suddenly felt colder and dropped to the ground, leaning against the door, listening to the sounds of the town. Locked outside. Alone.

So what if she was afraid?_  
_

_

* * *

_

I hope everyone loves this chapter as much as I do. Seriously it is now one of my favorites :)

Also, I'm almost done with this story! It's so sad... :(

But I'm going to make the last like two or three chapters SO AMAZING...

:)

*Grotesque, in this situation meaning "of rare or bizarre design" :)


	26. Slipping Away

_**Try Again**  
_

Chap 25: _So what if she was afraid?_

* * *

"Sora told me he loved me last night." Kairi said quietly, making Naminé look up from her coffee.

"Yeah?" Naminé smiled and folded up her copy of the Traverse Town newspaper.

"Yes." Kairi nodded like someone who was tired of saying it twice.

"Well that's... good." Naminé smiled.

Kairi leaned in and looked at her. "Are you off your wack?" she hissed.

Naminé thought about it. "I don't know how to answer that." she finally said.

Kairi sighed and sat back, downing her entire mocha in one chug like a shot of something alcoholic. Though with Kairi it was pretty much the same.

"Easy." someone warned and pulled up a chair beside them. Naminé looked up and was relatively relieved to see Leon. Of all the people she didn't want to face right now, Leon was at the bottom of the list.

"Hey." she smiled generously. He smiled back.

"How's life all by yourself?" he tore open a pack of low-calorie sugar and dumped it into his open mouth.

She unfolded her paper. "I almost spent last night outside."

"Rough." Leon said sympathetically. Then he sat there for a moment looking out through the frosty white glass of the café. He perked up suddenly and snapped his head to Naminé. "Wedding's tomorrow." he drummed the table.

"Could you not?" Kairi frowned angrily towards his patting hands. She had already gotten a refill on her coffee and was half-way through her mug, but nothing had really sunk in her yet. She still wore the same tired expression that Naminé adopted when she was forced to talk to the lower-IQ possessive Riku.

Leon stopped then scooted his chair closer to Naminé with something close to fear his eyes.

"How's your... how's your, uhm..." Naminé nodded to underneath the table.

"I don't want to talk about it." he said quickly and turned away.

"Crap." he hissed, glancing towards the entrance.

Naminé looked over and saw Yuffie flouncing her way silently through the customer-filled tables and steering around the fake-but-generally-realistic-looking plants. When she arrived at the table Leon flinched and shot his hands over his face.

"Relax." Yuffie patted him on the back, which from the looks of it almost gave him a mini heart-attack, forcing half of his body underneath the table.

"How are you?" Yuffie smiled politely towards Naminé, then Kairi.  
Naminé answered that she was fine.

Kairi only downed the rest of her mocha frappé, then stared at the wall, waiting for it to kick in. Every few seconds she would check her watch to estimate how much time it would be taking, then let out a melancholy, overly-dramatic sigh.

"I only came over to tell you that Tifa is looking for you." Yuffie continued. "After you left she acted really weird. I hope she's feeling alright..." she frowned.

Leon mumbled something indistinguishable about what _he_ was feeling "somewhere" and Yuffie glared at him.

"I need to go..." Yuffie glanced at Kairi's watch. "I still have to get fitted for a bridesmaids dress." she rubbed her forehead then retreated from the table, waving her goodbye.

"Thank God." Leon sighed and sat upright in his seat again.

Naminé laughed softly and snuck a peak at Kairi, who looked back at her.

"Let's go." she started to smile. Clearly the caffeine was starting to circulate through her blood stream, putting color in her cheeks and sparkle in her eyes.

It was amazing what certain drinks would do to Kairi.

Naminé nodded and stood up, which signaled to Leon that they were going to leave. He stood up next to her.

"Well, see you at the wedding." he smiled and outstretched his hand. She took it gingerly, slightly cautious of what he might do. But he just smiled genuinely. It touched a special place in her heart, his smile did. The same place that beat louder when she knew she had found a new friend.

"See you at the wedding." she then repeated expressionlessly. The wedding was tomorrow. It hadn't sunk in as of yet. For some reason unknown to Naminé... she didn't feel ready.

Everything had to be fixed before everyone was happy. And for some reason she felt like everything she was trying to fix was slipping away. The same feeling she had felt when Roxas had hugged her that day, when he told her goodbye. The day it was over, the day they both thought it was the end. The same feeling had resurfaced again when she had unknowingly been given a chance to try again. But again she felt the chance slip away when she walked out of Roxas' house on her quest to find out what was wrong with her life, but hadn't been able to catch it.

And now she felt like everything would be over with the wedding's end. She would just go back to her old life in her town that seemed to be a little to perfect for her, her room that seemed a little to plain, and her daily routine that seemed a little too old.

And all the happiness she had found here in Traverse Town; with Tifa, with Kairi, with Roxas. With herself. It would all just slip away.

Until there was nothing left behind.

"Naminé." Kairi waved her bangled wrist in front of Naminé's face, snapping her from her thoughts. She looked up to see Leon gone, and Kairi putting the bill on the table.

Naminé mumbled an apology, then stepped in front of her cousin towards the door. She heard a tiny clank and turned around to Kairi dropping a small mess of pewter chains into one of the coffee cups.

"What are you doing?" Naminé queried, then bent down to see what she had dropped. Inside the porcelain white mug were two tangled silver kinks, each sporting a brilliant charm. One had a yellow star and the other... a pink heart.

"Trying again." Kairi sighed, then pulled her cousin's wrist towards the door. "You should try it sometime."

Yeah... she should.

It was an unusually bright day outside. The sun that was peeking through the dark sky burned Naminé's eyes, but soothed her tired, cold skin. The good feeling from it outweighed the bad. She stood there for a minute, soaking it all up.

"Had enough, sunshine?" Kairi shielded her face with her hands. "Or  
can we go?"

"What do you wanna do?" Naminé turned and looked at Kairi.

Kairi thought. "I kinda wanna take a nap." she yawned, which made Naminé yawn.

"Sounds nice." Naminé swayed. "For some reason."

"Let us go!" Kairi clicked the heels of her designer boots together than pointed towards the street. When she realized what she had done  
she turned around. "You tell anyone about that I'll kill your family."

"That's a new one." Naminé laughed. "But that means you'll have to commit suicide."

Kairi stopped walking and looked at her, intrigued. "You think I'm  
family?"

"Well." Naminé said, "Who else could I consider my family..." It was a statement, not a question, as Naminé was thinking about it as she said it. She really _didn't_ have any other family.

But she was okay with that.

"Well, sister." Kairi held out her hand. Naminé grabbed it before it could slip away, then they both walked off down the street.

* * *

"...Naminé..."

She stirred. Someone was calling her. She tried to wake herself up.

"Naminé." someone nudged her arm. She shot awake with a jolt and her swinging arm met someone with a loud slap.

"God!" someone yelled. She opened her eyes to someone holding the side of their face and backing up off her bed. She saw spiky blonde hair.

"Cloud?" she squinted. "Oh no, I'm sorry..." she opened her mouth in horror and watched the person jump up and down clutching their face. Then they looked up.

"Oh, it's you, nevermind then." Naminé swung her legs around to the side of the bed and yawned. It was still bright outside. She can't have slept more than two hours. Her eyes happened on Kairi's bed, which was empty. She wondered where she could have gone...

"Ow." Roxas rubbed his cheek with the back of his hand. "I think you-"

"Broke something?" she turned to him.

He smiled and sat down next to her on the bed. "You were talking in your sleep." he pulled a gum wrapper from his pocket and folded it into the shape of a ball with his fingers.

"Really?" she sighed. "That's weird."

"Not really." Roxas flipped the paper at the wall, where it fell behind Kairi's bed.

She looked at his dark blue eyes. "What do you mean?"

He just shrugged and said, "You always talk in your sleep."

That was creepy.

"When have you seen me sleep?" she raised her eyebrows.

He looked at her for a second, as if waiting for her to remember something that he did. A long, drawn-out pause later, Naminé lifted her head.

"Your neighborly hospitality." she frowned, remembering her pretzel and tear dinner.

"Yeah." Roxas sighed then twirled a loose string on his denim jeans. "When we..." his voice trailed off. He lacked the will or courage or energy or something to finish his sentence.

"You watched me while I slept?" Naminé asked him incredulously.

"Naminé, you were, like, screaming." he stated.

Naminé shook her head. "What was I saying?" she was feeling a little dizzy.

Roxas' race suddenly bore a slight blush and he coughed to try and disguise it. "Stuff." he turned away.

"What kind of stuff?" she questioned and spun him around to face her.

"Just stuff!" he insisted then pinned her down with his hand. He had always been much stronger than her.

"Let me up!" she yelled from face up on the bed while he held her stomach down with his hand and laughed at her. "Stop changing the subject!" she bit down hard on his hand.

"Abuse!" he screamed, then put his hand in his mouth where she had bit him, releasing her. She pushed him off the bed with surprising strength where he lay on the floor laughing.

She put her head in her hands as she lay on the bed facing the ground where Roxas lie. "Tell me what I said." she demanded of him.

"Uh, no. You just bit me." he pointed out.

"You totally deserved it." she scoffed.

"Yeah toh-taly." he said in his best mock-blonde accent.

She stifled a smile. He caught it.

"I toh-taly bought a new bahg yestah-day." he kept going.

She let out a snicker and covered her mouth. "Stop."

He sat next to her on the bed again. "No." he smiled. "I'm making you laugh."

"Weird, huh?" she stared at the wall.

"Kind of unordinary, yeah." he smiled then lay back on the bed.

"No." she stood up. "I laugh all the time, when things are worth laughing at. Not everything's a huge joke, you know." she rounded on him. "And not everything is funny. Some things are actually," she struggled for words, "Serious, and like, important. Not weird at all. Not weird at all." she put her head in her hands.

Roxas had turned silent at the odd tone in her voice. "Like what?" he finally asked quietly.

"Like what?" she yelled and started pacing the length of the tiny room. Then she stopped to look out the window, in hopes that the sunshine would calm her nerves so her voice wouldn't crack when she said what she was about to say. It was something that had to be said, it couldn't really be ignored any longer. Not like she did with Kairi. She couldn't bear for something like that to happen again.

She felt the silky beige curtains between her long fingers, then let it drop. "Like that I think I love you." she laughed softly.

Roxas didn't say anything. Her words hung heavily throughout the tiny, cramped room. They kept stringing back through her ears and every time she heard them again she realized how ridiculous they sounded.

She felt Roxas come up from behind her. Carefully he slipped his arms around her waist and stood against her back, but she didn't pull away. He put his head on the back of hers and just breathed. She leaned against him and closed her eyes.

"I know." he said.

She spun around. "You know?" she said. "How do you know? I mean I've only... just figured it out... myself." she laughed timidly.

He shrugged again. "You talk in your sleep."

Damn her nightterrors.

"Oh... my God." she covered her face with her hands. How embarrassing. God knows what else she said.

He prized her hands away. "Why do you think I never gave up on you?" he smiled.

Then he put his finger on her head. "_You_ were lying." he brought his hand to her heart. "But you weren't." he smiled.

She smiled for a second, happy at the realization. Roxas had known the truth the whole time...

Suddenly she frowned, thinking about his words.

He noticed and scratched his head. "Was that too cliché?" he asked.

"Yeah." she laughed once. "That one was _bad_."

He laughed. "Okay I take it back."

"No." she half-smiled. "I think I'm going to allow that one."

Roxas smiled.

Suddenly a loud crash outside made both of them jump and Naminé's arm to fly up and hit Roxas in the face again.

"Naminé!" he shouted again and pulled down her hands, flinching.

"Shhh." she hissed, then pulled back the curtains to look outside.

"You have to stop hurting me." Roxas walked over to the small square mirror and examined a large red mark across his face.

"Oh God." Naminé swallowed, and her hand fall from the wood windowsill.

"What is it?" Roxas ran to the window and looked out like she did.

Naminé threw open the red door quickly and ran outside to the terrace, holding her hair in her hand so it wouldn't fly around her face from the slight, steady breeze.

"Why are you even here?" Kairi shouted from below her, down by the courtyard fountain. She was standing above someone, her hand on the wall. Her whole body was shaking.

"What's going on?" Roxas came up behind her and peered over her crisp white off-the-shoulder shirt.

Naminé was too aghast to even speak, so she just pointed where the two people were arguing near the running water. Beside her people of the inn were opening their doors and looking down towards the direction of the noise, too. Among these were Axel and Demyx, about three doors down. Demyx looked concerned and curious, where Axel just looked altogether uninterested. Either that or he was just too cool to care what was going on.

"Why should it matter!" Sora suddenly jumped up. "It's not any of your business why I'm here." he yelled in Kairi's face.

Uh oh. Naminé knew Kairi well enough to know she wasn't just going to let that go without at least-

"You bastard!" Kairi screamed.

-cussing. Naminé covered her face with her hands. She couldn't stand to see this unfolding beneath her.

Clearly the newly-forming audience hadn't been enough to stop the two  
from tearing into each other.

"Me?" Sora shouted in disbelief. Naminé had never seen him like this. Sure, it was normal for Kairi. But even for the short time Naminé had known Sora, it seemed unlike his personality to fight, let alone raise his voice.

Then a thought occurred to her. A metaphor, really. Kairi was very much like fire. Wild and hot, not to be tampered with or to get too close to if at all avoidable. She could even spread and get very much out of control.

And Sora was like water. He was the only one who could successfully extinguish Kairi's fiery personality without getting singed, and know when it was okay to let it just burn itself out. And then Naminé realized something else.

There was nobody else.

No-one else who could do what Sora could do. No-one else who Kairi would settle for, no matter how much she tried to make herself. Nobody.

Just Sora.

"Me!" Sora shouted again. "You're the one who ruined everything."

This seemed to take Kairi by a bit of surprise. "Don't spring that on me, Sora. I already know what I did." she said quieter.

"Then why the hell did you do it?" Sora raised his voice to new heights.

Kairi just dropped her head, having nothing left to say.

"Whatever. I'm done playing your game." Sora waved his hand. "I'll always love you Kairi but you make things... complicated." Sora made a move to walk away.

"Sora!" Kairi shouted and grabbed him by the wrist, pulling him back to face her. "Look. I don't know why I'm the way I am." she moved her hands to her words. "I mean, ask Naminé! She knows I'm a pain in the ass but she's too damn nice to say anything." she started to yell. "I love you too but if you can't-"

While she was yelling Sora grabbed Kairi and kissed her. Kairi seemed shocked for a minute or two (having just been in the middle of her speech), but soon closed her eyes and kissed him back. The light breeze blew her hair around both their faces, taking up crushed and wilted autumn leaves around them.

Well that was one way of telling Kairi to shut up.

Naminé smiled, then turned to Roxas. "That's how it's supposed to be." she said breathlessly. She turned back to the smile on Kairi's face as Sora brushed her hair out of her blue eyes.

"That's how it was always supposed to be."

* * *

If I calculated this correctly in my mixed up, confused mind; I have two more chapters after this one.

I'm reallyreally sorry this was so late. I had hoped to finish it before the end of the summer but that... didn't actually... happen.  
So I'm kind in school now with all those stupid, hard classes.

I'm so close to finishing though it makes meh a little sad :( I really love this story.

Hope you like it :)


	27. Beautiful Day

Naminé stood behind a huge velvety white veil, which she hoped was casting a masking shadow on her pale white face. She looked around her  
and saw nothing but the most beautiful white light. It was early in the morning. So early, in fact, that there was only a certain time  
where the sky was like that in Traverse Town. It cast brilliant flecks of light off of everything shiny that glowed around her head, and off  
her dress. Her kneecaps were shaking together and her hair started to annoy her; she shoved it impatiently behind her ear. Despite some of  
her friend's pleas she had not curled it or straightened it, nor done anything superbly special with it. She just left it the same like  
usual, draped over one shoulder and the back of her neck.

He had always liked it best like that.

Her nerves made her twitch violently and it startled her. She didn't know why she was nervous at all. It wasn't like SHE was getting  
married. She silently scolded herself for acting so jittery, but there was nothing she could do to calm herself down.

"Coming?" Yuffie held her hand out to Naminé and smiled softly. She was wearing a very plain but beautiful A-line white dress, that had a stunning and slightly blinding neon green design on the bottom hem. On any other person in the world it would have been entirely ridiculous and inappropriate for a wedding. But on Yuffie, there wasn't a second guess that it looked perfect.

"I think so." Naminé sighed, then took Yuffie's dainty hand in her own, pulling down her white see-through shawl through her relaxed elbows.

"Chill." Yuffie chuckled, tightening her grip on Naminé's shaking hand. Then she clasped her hand on the velvety material of the heavy  
curtain and pulled, revealing to both their eyes the magnificent splendor and beauty that had become Tifa and Cloud's wedding. Naminé gasped quietly and stared around her in awe.

There were stunningly white-washed pews perched perfectly in semi-straight rows, pointing towards the sun rising behind a high white  
arch. There were bows strung between the seats, connecting them together. Small handfuls of white and yellow flower petals adorned the  
seats and the white aisle. Even the beautiful tall arch was laced with roses and sparkly diamonds that reflected the light like Naminé's  
dress. Everywhere she moved small rays of light followed her eyes, and she could see them dance when she took each step. It was truly  
breathtaking.

"It's beautiful." she sighed, and her previously shaking hand relaxed in Yuffie's. Immediatly she became more calm. It was hard to imagine  
words for how astounding it all was to take in. She couldn't imagine a more perfect wedding for a more perfect marriage.

Yuffie pulled Naminé slowly onto the white carpet ahead of them, and began to walk towards the front of the outside chapel.

As they passed Naminé saw many people she knew, and many she didn't. Rows and rows in the back were occupied by giddy college graduates and love-struck twenty-year olds, laughing and chatting away. They must  
have been Tifa's friends from after high-school, Naminé guessed. They were very loud. She wondered if they were even paying attention.

Aerith looked up beaming at the two of them as they passed. She had on a form-fitting light pink dress that went above her knees, but it was  
unlike Naminé had ever seen. There was a clear slip over the top that blew around her legs as she walked. Her long braid had a lengthy pink  
ribbon intertwined between it, tying on the bottom. She still looked like a model, even though her face was slightly flushed and her breath  
short.

"I've only just finished the petals for the podium." she sighed, then  
fell across the chair like she'd been working for days.

"You'll live." Yuffie patted her head and continued walking.

Aerith stood up slowly when she saw Naminé walk up from behind Yuffie. Her eyes got wide and she just cocked her head to the side,  
dumbfounded. Naminé looked at her quizzically as she and Yuffie passed, then finally turned ahead to see Yuffie standing over a pew and  
talking to Leon.

"... and then she kissed me." he seemed to be finishing a story. "On the lips." he nodded and pointed to his mouth.

"Mmhm." Yuffie crossed her white arms. "And I suppose she also said she wanted to see you again."

Leon sighed loudly and reclined in the pew. "Yep." he yawned like it was nothing that didn't happen to him every other day. "She thinks I'm  
unbelievably adorable."

Yuffie bust out laughing. "Ohh." she wiped a tear from her eye. "You totally went too far with that last part." she doubled over in  
hysterics.

"Damn." he frowned.

"Nice try though." Yuffie acknowledged.

"You know, even though it didn't necessarily happen that doesn't mean  
it-" he stopped dead and his words trailed off when he saw Naminé peeking from behind a train of young bridesmaids passing through.  
"_Wow..._" was all he could seem to muster.

"Stick with your stories." Yuffie nodded then drug Naminé off through the now crowed aisle, who was now slightly confused at the way people were staring. A few boys and even some jealous-looking girls turned their heads when she passed. Feeling embarrassed and awkward, she put  
her head down and stared at her high white strappy heels. She wished she had been wearing something that was easier to walk in...

"Naminé!" Yuffie shouted. As Naminé was thinking her shoe caught in a space between the carpet and she was flung forward through the air.

How ironic.

"Whoa." someone caught her arm before she hit the ground and pulled her up to her feet, where she wobbled in her shoes precariously. She  
exhaled loudly and checked herself. Necklace on. Ankle bones in. Dress down. But something was off. She looked up.

"Heeeeey."

She didn't even bother to count those seemingly endless e's.

"Hey." she smiled and pushed her hair out of her face.

Roxas stood back and put his hands in the pockets if his grey tux. His tie was the same navy blue as his eyes and he had a single red rose  
perched out of his pocket. "Wow." he just stared at her in awe. "You look... Really great." he smiled.

She looked... Great? Now she figured out why people were staring, which made her feel good that it wasn't anything embarrassing, but  
apparently she still stood out. And she hated standing out.

"Oh... yeah." she tugged on her dress. Naminé had been skeptical about  
it when Kairi had pulled it from the bag she brought from home. It was all an off-white, ivory color with an open back partially covered by  
six or seven interconnecting, interweaving straps. It went past her knees with a beautiful flowing material that billowed around her when  
she walked. The front cut close across her chest but had a beatiful, hand sewed navy pattern on it, with a matching one on the bottom hem.  
Kairi had even lent her a beautiful silk scarf to link through her arms, on the penalty of death if it came to any harm. "Well, you know.  
Kairi... always picks something... Great." she smiled sheepishly.

"No." he scratched the back of his head. "I mean, you look really... beautiful." he sighed, then turned his head away to avoid her eyes.

"Thank you." she half-smiled curiously and looked at him. "You look very..." she pinched the material of his tux between the pads of her  
fingers, trying to find a word. "Anyway," she turned to Yuffie, changing the subject. But Yuffie was gone.

"Damn, now you _have_ to compliment me." Roxas grinned, watching her eyes move over the spot where her only comfortable companion had  
miraculously disappeared.

Looking through the crowd, she spotted a tall, clean, pixie-looking girl a little far off. "Kairi!" she called out happily, having not  
seen her cousin since the morning before they both went to separate houses to get ready.

The girl turned to the sound of a familiar voice and smiled. Kairi had straightened her auburn hair to perfection, and positioned it around  
her face with a few silver clips. Her strapless light yellow dress was very plain and simple; yet perfect for not distracting people's eyes  
from Kairi's natural beauty. Kairi didn't need an amazing dress to stand out.

As she turned Naminé saw her smile happily and speak a few words to someone behind her. Then she flounced through the crowd towards  
Naminé, hand in hand with a flushed, beaming Sora.

This, for some reason, warmed Naminé's heart. Seeing the two of them smiling together and flowing towards her made her feel unbelievably  
relieved and happy. She felt that in some way her happiness was connected with Kairi's, and when either of them felt okay, the other  
one did too. It was then that Naminé realized just how much she loved Kairi.

"You look so beautiful." Kairi said breathlessly as the two of them approached her and Roxas. In the back of her mind, Naminé mentally  
tagged those words as the nicest thing Kairi had ever said to her. Sora retreated back towards Roxas and the two began to talk about  
things that clearly had nothing to do with weddings, but kept them occupied nonetheless.

"So do you." Naminé answered, and touched a piece of Kairi's silky red  
hair. It was soft between her fingers.

"Well," Kairi twirled in her dress joyously. "It should. I always pick great dresses, do I not?" she gazed at Naminé's. "And I got yours in  
white. To make you happy." she smiled.

The familiar color did make her happier and more comfertable. She was content in the dress, she felt beautiful. And she looked beautiful,  
too, according to a good deal many people.

Even the person she really wanted to hear it from.

"Listen." Kairi held her arm and stood close, looking into Naminé's soul through her big blue orbs. "Thank you." she sighed after awhile.  
"For everything." she took Sora's hand and both of them were smiling.

Naminé was too happy to even say anything, so she just nodded her welcome. Then Kairi waved goodbye and Sora half-waved his hand, then  
they retreated back to their seats.

Around her people were quieting and sitting down. The warm air was hanging like a heavy curtain behind the altar, brightening the ground  
with the sun. The tiny drops of dew on the grass were glistening in the sunlight, telling Naminé and the other guests that the ceremony  
should start to begin. She waved to Yuffie in the front row ahead of Leon and next to Aerith. Aerith was re-tying her long hair in a braid  
and positioning her ribbon while Leon was flicking it out of reach playfully with his fingers. Naminé smiled and took a seat near the  
middle, though technically a spot was reserved for her at the front. Inside, the feeling from the day before was still lingering  
ominously. Being too close to the wedding would make her upset, when all she should really be feeling was happiness.

Someone sat down beside her, and she wasn't surprised when she looked  
over.

"Would you not rather sit up there?" Naminé smirked and pointed to the  
front row.

"Nah." Roxas whispered, as the whole congregation was now quieting down considerably. "I usually find the only girl in the room prettier  
than the bride and sit next to her." he raised his eyebrows at her, almost daring him to insult what he had said. But out of sheer respect  
of the situation she said nothing, but smiled at him.

Suddenly a faint sound came from the back. It wasn't the traditional piano wedding song, but something different. Something Tifa. Naminé  
listened to it. She slowly smiled and felt a little better at the lack of one more evident wedding cliché.

"Shhh." she hushed Roxas, listening.

"I wasn't talking." he pointed out.

"You are now, _shut up_." she directed her attention to the aisle, as did every other guest. Roxas sighed next to her and shifted in his seat.

"What, are you bored already?" Naminé queried.

"No." he batted some spiked hair out of his eyes. "I have something to give you."

"Is it silence?" Naminé asked, then caught a glimpse of white at the start of the aisle and perked up, nudging Roxas on the arm.

Tifa appeared around the corner, gliding ceremoniously down the very center of the aisle, not making the tiniest noise with her white shoes  
or even with the long white train trailing behind her elegant, floor-length dress. Her long, straight black hair was almost exactly the way  
Aerith had tried to style the day or two before. Tiny white and yellow flowers were positioned artfully through her tresses, connected and  
inter-weaved with tiny ivory ribbons. Her face looked virtually no different than it normally did- save for some blacker lashes and  
pinker cheeks- because Tifa needed no makeup to shine. Today her face was aglow from the inside, and to Naminé she looked the happiest she'd  
ever seen. She wasn't just beautful...

She was ready.

And she was leaving Naminé behind. Not that Naminé was expecting her to wait, but something inside her was wishing someone would.

Tifa reached out her lace wrist-gloved hand to Naminé and squeezed it, then floated past her towards the altar again.

Naminé let her arm linger where Tifa had dropped it, still thinking. Roxas seemed to sense something was wrong, and reached over her and grabbed her outstretched hand, lacing his fingers inbetween hers. She looked over at him and tried to smile.

Roxas eyes flit towards movement next to the altar, and Naminé's eyes followed. From underneath the white chantry walked Cloud, hair still  
spiked; stupid, shocked expression still plastered on his dumbstruck face. His cheeks were a subtle rosy color, and he kept rubbing his  
face in his shoulder trying to hide it as he watched Tifa saunter towards him with a smile. Naminé lifted up her hand in a small wave.  
Cloud saw her and Roxas holding hands, and nodded happily. She smiled.

The man who was there to marry them spoke slow, but Naminé was impressed with the way Roxas sat still and held her hand. Unlike Leon  
who, from where Naminé could see, was slowly losing his grip on conciousness.

A little later Cloud pulled back Tifa's veil, which caught Naminé's eye because of the small black stitching that matched the kind on her  
train. Naminé smiled. Even at her wedding, Tifa still managed to incorporate black into her outfit.

And then those terribly cliché words were said, (so cliché that they were chosen not to be repeated) and Cloud took Tifa by the waist and  
kissed her passionately, and the whole crowd broke out into pulled Naminé up and put his arm around her waist and hollered,  
"Yeaaahhh!"

She covered her ears. "Hey." she chuckled and nudged him.

He coughed. "Sorry."

Naminé watched them at the front. "It finally happened." she smiled.

"Yeah." he released her hand. "Almost."

She looked at him. "What?" she asked.

He only smiled and kept his mouth shut.

People were moving from their seats. Kairi approached Naminé again. "I'll be honest," she started.

Not the best idea.

"That would have been so pretty if I had really known the people getting married." she yawned into her hand.

"That would have been so LESS boring if it wasn't so-" Sora started, but stopped when Kairi shot him a dissaproving look.

"It's a beautiful day." Naminé watched the sun-bathed altar, where a few lone rose petals were still falling amidst the rising light. She was still trying hard to be happy, and also despising herself for not being able too. Something was weighing heavily on her mind.

Her statement seemed to catch the other three off guard, but neither of them said anything. Instead they stood together and watched the  
incoming sky in silence, the wind blowing forgotten flowers about their feet. They were all together.

And it really was... such a beautiful day.

* * *

The ceremony after-wards was bright. The kind of bright that just makes you want to curl up in a chair out on a balcony or porch and just fall  
into a deep sleep. The kind that made you drowsy and almost completely out of it.

"Naminé." Kairi deadpanned.

Naminé snapped her head back to her cousin's blank glare. "Mm." she nodded.

"Answer when you're ready, I only asked like six times." Kairi crossed her arms in front of her chest.

"Sorry." Naminé swept her hair across her face one side, then the other, then down the middle. Either way it still bothered her.

"What's on your mind? You haven't eaten." Kairi tried to sit back in her chair, but, being blocked by a large white bow, was 'forced' to  
rip it from the attached ribbon and throw it to the ground forcefully.

Naminé looked at her plate, which held a small piece of bread and a  
few lone strawberries. But she really didn't feel like eating...

A small chain of the children bridesmaids were skipping throughout the tables, fingers tucked in eachother's beltloops so none of them would  
break off the train. Kairi watched them in disgust.

"Where is Sora?" Naminé questioned, rubbing her head.

Kairi sighed. "Getting something to eat." she smiled noncholantly, thinking about him.

Naminé, in turn, smiled at this, but this time stopped quicker and turned her head back to the table. She focused on counting the  
individual stems branching off from a certain bamboo decorative centerpiece. She had gotten to thirty-seven when someone approached  
the table, covering her plant with a slender shadow. She looked up slowly.

"Namie." Tifa spread her arms wide. Naminé got up without hesitation  
and hugged her.

"I'm so happy for you." she beamed.

But Tifa seemed to have other things on her mind. She put her hand on Naminé's head for a moment. "How are you doing?" then she pulled back  
and looked her in the eyes intently.

Naminé waved this away. "Nevermind, I'm okay. It's your day." she smiled, hoping she looked convincing.

Tifa didn't entirely accept this. "You know," she whispered so only Naminé could hear, "I won't let you two _not_ be okay." She smiled.

Naminé nodded. "I know." she said. Then her face broke into a smile, this one genuine. _"I'm trying again..." _she thought to herself.

This seemed to please Tifa. "Okay." she decided, and having that been settled, she suddenly squealed excitedly. "I just got married!" she  
cried.

Naminé tried to scream back but for her nature it was almost physically impossible. It came out sounding like a repressed voice  
break, but the thought was still there.

"I'm visiting every table." Tifa picked up her dress. "But I'm coming back!" she assured as she walked towards a table near the fountain.

And she was. There was more for them to talk about, even if it wasn't now. Naminé wouldn't always be able to talk to Tifa. Naminé  
recognized that she had limited time, but she knew one thing.

She wouldn't forget to talk to her again.

"Okay." Naminé waved shyly, trying hard not to be heard by passerby. Then she sank back into her chair, fiddling with her gold and ivory  
embezzled name card. She looked over to see that Kairi had felt left out in the conversation or just lost interest. She spotted her and  
Sora sitting on the stone edge of the fountain talking, holding eachother's hands.

"Ta-da!" someone slammed a plate in front of her eyes, making her start. "I brought you some food, stick." Roxas pulled up a chair  
beside her.

Stick?

"I'm not hungry." she smiled wearily.

"_Listen_." Roxas pointed a thin finger at her. "I was responsible for feeding you once, and I messed that up." he pushed her the plate. "Eat."

She moaned and pushed it back.

"Naminé. Eat. The. Food." he demanded.

No.

She pushed it back to him, feeling stubborn.

"Please?" he begged. He really wanted her to eat it. Whatever 'it' was. She looked down at what appeared to be either a discolored fruit  
or a pile of condensed orange ice-cream. Timidly she picked up her spoon and plunged it into the dessert. It was too hard to be ice-  
cream...

She put it in her mouth and widened her eyes. It had a sweet, sort of meaningful flavor. One you would probably always remember. "That is  
very good." she said.

"Is it?" he asked like he really didn't know.

She nodded and pushed the plate towards him, offering it. He shrugged casually and took a bite. His expression became excited and elated.  
"Nice."

"What is it?" Naminé took another bite.

"Paopu fruit."

She spit some out on the table and started hacking. "What?" she asked in disbelief.

"What was that you said about those things?" Roxas thought, though it was painfully obvious he knew the answer.

Naminé remembered but had a difficult time processing the information with what had just happened. He did that on purpose. "If you share  
it... you're destinies... are..."

"_Intertwined_ was the term used, I thought." Roxas finished.

Naminé put down her spoon. "Oh God." she laughed once.

Roxas leaned back in his chair. "Was that okay?" he asked with a smile.

She just stared at him in disbelief, and something close to awe. She didn't speak for several seconds, and probably looked incredibly  
stupid with her mouth agape ready to yell at him but her hand raised ready to stop herself.

"Yeah." she said quietly after awhile. "I think so."

He looked up and smiled, running his hand through his hair.

"Hey." Cloud shouted from the front. When nobody heard him her repeated himself, louder. Still nothing.

Yuffie strode up to the front and pulled out a chair, getting up on it. "_Hey, Shut up_!" she screamed, fixing her dress.

The noise quieted down and all heads turned to the front.

"Thanks Yuffie..." Cloud half-smiled. She nodded and floated back to her seat as graceful as someone who hadn't just jumped on a chair and  
screamed at the top of her lungs.

"Uhh... We're going to the dancefloor, now, so-" the remaining words of his announcement were drowned out as a hundred feet scurried to the large wooden platform beneath the stage. Naminé and Roxas followed behind, lingering near Cloud.

"_Animals_!" Cloud shouted exasperatedly and smoothed his tux. "Run over the groom. God." he mumbled. "I'm already paying a small fortune for  
this wedding, who knows how I'll get the money to pay off everything."

Roxas raised his eyebrows at Naminé.

"And then there's the damn-" he continued.

"Cloud." Naminé put her hand on his shoulder. He stopped talking and looked at her. "Don't worry." she said simply.

He didn't seem to click with it.

"Think like your wife." she left him to ponder this.

"Yeah." he said slowly. Then it hit him. "She's my wife!" he yelled happily to nobody in particular and ran to Tifa, waiting for him for  
the first dance. He took her close and kissed her, smiling. Then a very slow, beautiful song started to play. Tifa wrapped her arms  
around Cloud's neck and put her head on his chest. It was quiet as the whole audience watched them in awe. It was beautiful to see,  
especially for Naminé and Roxas. They had known it was coming, but had left before it could happen. And then, the two of them could only wait  
and wonder if maybe it had happened without them... And then suddenly be found by Cloud to come see it, so their hearts could feel content as they watched the moment themselves, happening right in front of them. At least, that was how Naminé felt.

Then people started joining in. Small children holding hands, young couples and newly-married graduate friends of Tifa's. Leon grabbed Yuffie's wrist and pulled her out, to her dismay. Despite the relatively slow song he still danced wildly and seemingly to himself, letting Yuffie slip back to the side unnoticed. Aerith just stood there humming to herself, until a tall, handsome boy asked her to dance. He had spiky but tame dark- greyish black hair, and was wearing all black. They walked out together and the two of them spun gracefully, leaving behind brief flashes of pink and black. Naminé smiled as she watched them.

Roxas had been watching her. He nudged her arm with his. "Hey." he looked around. They were the only two not on the platform.

She looked at him.

"Uh..." he scratched his head. "Do you wanna... dance? he smiled nervously.

She raised her eyebrows. "With who, Roxas?" she smirked for fun.

"With me?" he tried, confused.

She pretended to think, but just watched him squirm awkwardly, waiting for her answer. Let him suffer, she thought. "No." she finally said.

"Oh, I just thought-" he hastened.

"I will, however," she stated. "Dance _next_ to you."

He smiled. "Right then. I suppose I'll see you out there?" he asked.

She nodded. "I suppose maybe you will." she smiled at him. He shoved his hands in his pockets and walked out. She was just going to make a  
move to follow him (at an innocent distance, of course), when somebody called her name.

"Naminé!" she spun around to the voice, and there stood Kairi, hands clasped in front of her dress, perfectly retained hair whipping  
slightly around her gold-dusted cheekbones. She looked like she had something important to say; her mouth was open to speak and her eyes were furrowed straight ahead.

"Hi, Kairi." Naminé closed her eyes and smiled.

Kairi tried to return the smile. "It's time," she said quietly after a little bit of silence.

Naminé didn't understand. "What?"

Kairi nodded. "It's time." she said again.

Oh. "You're ready to go home..." Naminé said slowly.

"I said I'd let you know." Kairi laughed.

"I know." Naminé sighed. "I just... I thought, maybe- I mean it's only until tomorrow... can you, like-"

"No." Kairi insisted. "I'm ready to go... _home_."

Naminé didn't process this for a moment. Then, it hit her. "Kairi..." she frowned.

"Sora and I talked. We're going to go to Destiny Springs together." she sighed loudly with a tiny glint of a smile. "I'm ready to go home."

Naminé suddenly tried to imagine life without her cousin, but it was harder than she thought. For years, while Kairi would throw 400 page  
novels at Naminé's head and threaten to take her life, she had wished for nothing more than Kairi's absense. But as she thought about it  
now- of being alone in the large apartment, eating by herself on her favorite grey couch, escaping Kairi's bad mood to watch the stars  
outside by habit- she realized that all she ever wanted was exactly what she didn't.

But then Naminé thought about what Kairi wanted. She racked her brain. For the longest time, Naminé had taken little or no notice to the fact  
that maybe Kairi didn't want to stay in Twilight Town. That maybe she missed home too. But instead of missing Twilight Town, Kairi longed  
for the place where she grew up, felt comfortable, and was happy.

"I understand." Naminé felt a little shorter of breath, but also a tiny flutter of excitement and expectation for her cousin. She was  
leaving, but she would be with Sora. And that was good enough for Naminé. Not completely, but just enough.

However, though this thought was substantial for her, Naminé couldn't  
shake the reocurring feeling that she was being left behind. First Cloud and Tifa, now Kairi and Sora. They were all slipping away.

Kairi perked up. "Really?" she rushed to embrace Naminé. "I knew you  
would." she whispered.

"I'll miss you, Kairi." Naminé allowed herself to disclose. Her voice sounded tired and squeaky, it echoed slightly in her ears. She willed  
the oncoming tears to go back into her head.

"Ah." Kairi squeezed her tightly. "And I will miss physically harming you." she laughed.

Naminé laughed too. They broke apart, Naminé hastily brushing her tears away with the back of her hand.

Kairi peered over Naminé's shoulder. "Looks like someone's waiting for  
you." she giggled.

Naminé turned around. Roxas was in the middle of the platform, a short brunnette pulling at his arm and begging him to dance. He just  
politely pushed her away but she kept coming back. Eventually he just looked towards Naminé in sheer desperation. She watched them for a  
minute.

Then Naminé turned back to Kairi, but she was gone. In the distance she could just make out her and Sora gliding close together on the  
dancefloor, hand in hand. She smiled.

* * *

"Okay, what does everyone want?" Yuffie clasped her hands together, looking at everyone in the circle in front of her. Her, Leon, Aerith,  
Kairi, Sora, Roxas, Naminé, Selphie (who Kairi had recently come across sometime on the dancefloor, apparantly they had missed  
eachother during the wedding), and Aerith's new friend Zack were all perched around a table far away from any other guest. The wedding had  
grown quieter, now the only noise that remained was the occasional distant murmur of low, droning speech from across the way.

"Cake!" Leon shot his finger in the air and jumped up.

"Nothing, thanks." Aerith examined her already flat stomach.

"Me neither..." dismissed Kairi with a wave, as if anyone was actually talking about asking _her_.

Sora sniffed, "Nah." and reclined in the white chair.

Selphie seemed to be vastly interested in a boy across the dancefloor, and was much too occupied to answer.

"So, just fruit for me?" Yuffie frowned. "Okay, be right back."

"Wait, I wanted cake!" Leon stood up. But she was already too far away to hear him. He sat down in defeat.

Roxas coughed something that sounded like, "_Crashers_." and loosened his tie. Naminé looked up from the napkin she was drawing on. Waltzing  
ever so calmly towards the table was Axel and Demyx, acting as if they'd just innocently come back from the bathroom.

"What are you doing here?" Naminé asked either of them when they got  
close enough to hear her.

Axel pulled up a chair and sat on it backwards, patting Roxas on the back. "Seeing two of our best friends get married, of course."

Demyx nodded in agreement. "Yeah, what was it..." he snapped his fingers, trying to remember. "Uhh, Rainy and Deena or something."

That sounded convincing.

Naminé opened her mouth to correct them, but Roxas shook his head,  
motioning to just let it go.

"How'd you get in?" Kairi asked nonchalantly, inspecting her nails.

"Demyx brought an axe." Axel pointed to the brown haired boy, who smirked guiltily.

Kairi's eyes widened in fear, but nobody made an effort to tell her he was kidding; everyone knew _Axel_ would have been the one to bring the  
axe.

"How was the wedding? And much more importantly, where is the food?" Axel asked the circle.

Sora pointed to the refreshments table with his pointer finger.

Axel got up to leave.

"Someone check him for matches!" Naminé added. Roxas jumped up and felt his pockets, dumping the contents on the table.

"Two- thirty seven munny in change, red spray paint and a map to an  
arsonic college; wow they have those?" Roxas announced.

"Yes, they do." Axel snatched his brochure and change. "And for your information... It isn't ARSON. It's cleverly playing with fire. Meant  
for the truly genius and creative."

Tifa walked up to the table, hands at her sides. When Axel walked past her he dumped the Two- thirty seven in her open palm saying,  
"Congratulations."

She looked at the coins quizically but having recognized the unruly spiked red hair just dumped them on the table. "Hi everyone."

Everyone returned the greeting happily. "How does it feel to be married?" Aerith gushed, oddly interested.

"Hasn't sunk in yet." Tifa shrugged. "In fact..." she looked over her shoulder. "Cloud still seems like just my boyfriend."

Naminé smiled, not fully understanding this but guessing as best she could. She was happy at the fact Cloud and Tifa were still just  
incredible friends and as deeply in love as the same day they had started dating. Not much was going to change, because not much had to.

"Who's this?" Tifa pointed to the stranger next to Aerith.

The new addition stood up and shook Tifa's hand. "I'm Zack." he smiled crookedly. It was a cute crooked smile.

Tifa looked back and forth between Aerith and Zack and smiled, not saying anything about it but not needing too. The way Naminé saw it,  
she was either genuinely happy for them or she was praying that this boy would be the cause of taking Aerith's mind away from annoying Tifa.

"So Leo." Tifa pulled up a chair, pulling her puffy tulle and lace dress off the table and shoving it under her arms. "Meet anyone  
incredibly incredible?"

Leon buried his head in the crook of his arm and mumbled.

Naminé looked at him. He was very handsome, she noticed; she could not see a problem with him getting girls. But some things were truly a  
mystery...

There was someone out there for him, and she knew.

"Hey all." Cloud slammed a drink on the table and sat down, picking up the red spray paint and turning it over in his hands, not bothering to  
ask where it came from. From the corner of her eye Naminé saw Demyx duck under the table discreetly and crawl underneath; in case of any  
potentially remaining anger on the part of Cloud.

"Hi, you." Tifa smiled and leaned over to kiss him.

Naminé felt someone nudged her and turned towards it. It was Roxas. He was smiling and resting his arms on his knees, holding something in  
his hands.

"Watcha got there?" Yuffie suddenly appeared at the table, pointing towards the paint in Cloud's hands.

"Not cake." Leon yelled at her.

This perturbed Yuffie a little bit. Then the two of them got in a little tussle;_ tussle_ being the nicest word Naminé could think of at  
the time. It was loud, giving Naminé an excuse to turn back to Roxas without being noticed.

"Uh..." he furrowed his eyes. "I have something for you." he held out his hand, which held a small, badly wrapped parcel.

Naminé reached out and took it, opening it up. Inside was a single red rose, not unlike the one she had given him then accidentally scattered  
around the whole town. Her mouth fell as she untaped a small drawing from the inside of the package. In a hasty, try-hard-but-kind-of-fail  
sketch, there was a person. A girl. With blonde hair and a simple white dress. She was smiling, and her smile was hiding something she  
wouldn't reveal.

"It was supposed to be you..." he said. "But I can't actually, like,  
draw."

An understatement. But, it wasn't as bad as some other things she'd seen him try. And to her, it was the most amazing thing she'd ever  
gotten.

"I love it." she beamed.

"And there's that." Roxas pointed to a small chain wrapped around the rose.

Naminé pulled it off and looked at it. It was a small silver key chain with a gold star at the end. It looked like something she'd keep with  
her everywhere.

"Thank you." she reached over and hugged his neck, he put his arms around her waist. She felt electrical shocks jolt through her body  
when he touched her. "Even though it's-"

"Cliché, yes." he laughed. "Harder than you'd think..."

Naminé smiled and turned back to the table, where she met Kairi's eye. She had seen the whole thing and was smiling softly. Naminé smiled  
back.

She looked around. Tifa was having a mini- shouting match with Aerith across the table about something that had happened in high school.  
Cloud was pointing at Demyx, who had surfaced, and was shouting something loudly. Leon and Yuffie were seconds from full out combat, still screaming about the cake. Sora and Axel were talking by themselves about firelighters, and Zack was sitting in his chair looking surpised and left out.

She looked at all of her friends and smiled- and she didn't worry about it all going anymore.

Because if anything ever started to slip away...

She knew of ten more chances who would try just as hard to catch it.

* * *

_This is not the last chapter. _But we're close...

:(


	28. Azure

_::Try Again::_

Thank you to every one who has reviewed/commented and faved :)  
And also a very special thanks to Sovereign Beta for _literally _commenting on every chapter. Thanks so much for all the positive feedback :) 

* * *

"It feels so empty." Naminé shivered, not because she was cold, but because she felt like she was cold. The large apartment did not currently feel welcome to her, and the discomfort was making it harder to enjoy being back home.

But the empty room was only a small part of it.

It was different that nobody answered her. Not like she expected anyone too; being by herself. But subconsciously she was still expecting a reply.

The previously-furnished room around her only held her small couch now, right under the window. She trudged over to it in her slippers, encasing herself in its comforting cushions, and pulling a grey pillow onto her lap. She looked out of the window. The sky was not a normal Twilight Town sky. Usually when this happened Naminé would hasten to draw the different backdrop settled behind the buildings. But today she didn't feel like drawing, especially when the subject matter was so upsetting. Though Naminé often craved rainy weather like she did the day Cloud had come, right now all she wanted was something familiar. Something Twilight Town.

And right now Twilight Town was not pulling through for her.

A large black cloud rolled right over where she was looking, and promptly let loose all the rain it had that was stored inside. This lasted for several minutes. Naminé sighed as she watched the cloud climb up against the dim grey sky and disappear out of sight, just in time for another one to swoop in.

She stood, feeling cold in just her thin long sleeved shirt and jeans. With added force she slammed the window shut and sat back down on the couch, looking about the almost barren room.

Her eyes caught the place in the corner where, resulting in a large round stain on the carpet, Kairi had spilled Naminé's favorite perfume; just because it happened to be sitting there and she knew it would make Naminé mad. Kairi frequently found ways to make Naminé mad, sometimes just for fun. Naminé rarely lost her temper completely, which is why Kairi had sometimes done ridiculous things to ensure Naminé would almost always be as upset as she was.

Her eyes drifted over the next window a ways beside her. She recalled that rare December day where a very small amount of snow had formed outside. Kairi was marveling the town from the window, having never seen such a thing at Destiny Islands. Naminé had caught a glimpse of icicles that morning, and had even warned Kairi many times she was standing there. However, the both of them still spent the night in the hospital with Kairi in stitches and a rather ridiculous medical bill.

Naminé smiled as she remembered the time when Kairi had slammed the front door much too hard, leaving a golf-ball sized dent in the wood frame. Neither of them had ever bothered to get it fixed, so the chipped and peeling figure was still there. Naminé looked at it whenever she left the house these days.

And then something unpleasant came over Naminé. She had been feeling it for the whole week since she had been back, but it was only a small pinch on her heart. As she actually took the time to think about Kairi, though, the pinch grew in size and persistence. Now as she put her hand on her chest she felt her scar hurting, though not enough to distract her from the pain she was feeling inside. Tears started rolling down her face as fast as she could hastily brush them away.

Kairi was gone.

Naminé stood, slumping up to the mantle half-heartedly. She grabbed Kairi's parting present to her from the prior day and turned it over thoughtfully in her palm. To be honest, just the concept of Kairi giving Naminé a gift was almost unimaginable. However, it was mutually deemed appropriate considering the circumstances, and Naminé really didn't mind. In fact, it had all the sudden become one of the most treasured items Naminé owned. She loved to hold it often. It made her forget other things on her mind like the apartment, the shopping the undoubtedly would have to do in the near future, and gradually approaching college days. _Ughh_. She wish she hadn't reminded herself. School started next week, and this time she would be going alone.

Suddenly the door opened behind her. She turned around slowly, looking up from her hands.

Roxas dropped a large book bag near the place where the old oak table used to be. It fell to the floor with a reverberating thud, filling the empty air throughout the room and making Naminé jump.

"I'm almost positive that can be fixed." Roxas knelt on the ground, scrutinizing the large scratch now etched into the pergo.

"Don't worry about it." Naminé sniffed.

Roxas stood, shoving his bag towards the wall. "What's wrong?" he frowned.

"Um." Naminé shoved her fingertips in the corners of her eyes where tears were beginning to well up. "Nothing."

He didn't buy this for a second. "Hey." he put his arm around her shoulder and steered her towards her couch.

"No. I'm fine." she insisted, and tried unsuccessfully to pull from his grasp.

He was much stronger than she was, which she should have remembered, but never did. He grabbed her by both wrists and dragged her back. "Naminé."

She clenched her hand tighter until her knuckles turned opaque. "_Roxas_, I'm fine." she yelled.

"Then why are you crying?" he raised his blue eyes, flopping the blonde spikes.

"Well." Naminé inhaled. "You're just so ridiculously annoying that it makes me... really emotional sometimes."

"Mmhm." Roxas nodded and sat down beside her. She put her legs on the armrest, leaning on him.

"And," she sighed. "It's terribly bleak outside."

Roxas looked confused. "No, it isn't." he frowned.

And there was that ridiculous annoyingness.

She looked outside to see that he was, undoubtedly, correct. The sky had cleared up incredibly fast sometime after she'd last looked. Now the underlying hue was not a murky, soiled grey but a perfectly serene light blue, speckled with a smattering of tiny white clouds. It appeared as if it was an ocean, washing over the town with a cleansing blue mist.

"But it was only just dark a minute ago..." she shook her head.

Roxas laid his feet on Naminé's cushion. "That was before_ I_ arrived." he smirked cockily.

She pushed his feet off of the fabric. But she didn't have anything to fire back at him this time. The sky really _had_ changed when Roxas had come. Or at least, it was just another terribly irritating coincidence.

"What's in your hands?" Roxas looked down curiously.

She snapped her head back quickly and pulled her hands away. "Nothing."

He frowned. "Naminé..."

"It's not chocolate, I swear!" she insisted, reminiscing on Kairi's tiny, purple-wrapped obsessions.

He prized her small hands open with ease, to her dismay. He peered inside and smiled curiously, picking it up. "Where did you get this?" he asked.

"Kairi." at the name Naminé's eyes were moist once again. She blinked it away and took back her necklace. The present had been incredibly important to Naminé. Just the simple chain and the dainty silver bead had been enough for Naminé to distract herself from Kairi's absence, even if it was only for a moment.

"Actually I think I've seen her wear this." Roxas said.

Naminé nodded. "She never took it off."

Roxas brushed his hand underneath Naminé's eye, wiping away a tear. She nodded her thanks but his touch only made her more upset. She started crying softly.

"Naminé." Roxas hugged her and let her sob into his chest. "It'll be fine without Kairi." he tried to sound upbeat. "No more... no more death threats! And none of those parties! Though I did really like those..." he added under his breath. "And best of all, you have this place all to yourself."

This made her cry even more, completely soaking the front of his plaid shirt.

He frowned, remembering. "Oh. Sorry, Naminé. I know you hate being alone."

Saying the words made her imagine the worst. That dreaded night where her nightterrors had surfaced multiplied many times: it would be unbearable. Being by herself was her one and only true fear (aside from planes, of course).

She pulled back. "Yeah, well." she covered her face with her hands, and was silently grateful she didn't wear makeup like Kairi. She recalled that whenever Kairi cried it looked like she was dripping black tears.

"Hey." Roxas perked up, pulling her to face him. "How about... I..." he scratched his head. "Stay... with you?"

She looked up. "Stay here? In the apartment?"

"Or not." he hastened to add. "Doesn't matter. I was just-"

"No. I think that's perfect." she smiled.

"Oh. Wait, really? Wow. Okay, great." he smiled. "And I can drive you to school and stuff, since Kairi has the car."

At this mention of her cousin Naminé let it wash over her without a single tear. This time she was thinking about other things. "Wait, what do you mean?" she suddenly asked.

"Kairi took the car, dummy." he said. "Did you notice it's not out front anymore?"

Well, no. She hadn't.

"College." she clarified. "I thought you were going to Radiant Garden."

"I got accepted to Twilight Academy. Barely, though. Needless to say I _will_ need help on my art projects." he sighed.

Naminé's mouth broadened into a smile unlike she had ever experienced. She felt the hole in her heart from many weeks before finally close, even without Kairi being there. She was reminded of this when she glanced out towards the sky.

"However." Roxas suddenly jumped up, sending Naminé head first into a pile of pillows. "This wall just won't do." he motioned to the surface of the wall facing east from her window couch. It was the largest and the most blank, with not a single piece of furniture resting on it.

"Well." Naminé got up too and stood next to him. "What color do you suppose we should paint it?"

He pulled up his diesel jeans, the sunlight streaming on his excited face. "Definitely purple."

"And blue." she added.

"_Azure_." he said thoughtfully.

She smiled. "Emerald."

"Yellow."

"And white." she nodded. "It needs a little less color." she looked at him. "Like you."

He smiled back at her, making her feel warm. She was reminded of how much she truly had missed him. After all, she remembered, she didn't love spiky blonde haired boys. She loved Roxas.

"And you need a little more." he bent down and put his hands around the back of her neck, kissing her softly. He broke away and they both stood there, staring outside at her most favorite place in the world. She smiled, knowing that Kairi was in hers.

At this Naminé sighed, finally forgetting Kairi and Sora. Cloud, Tifa, Selphie, Aerith, Leon, and everybody else. Forgetting that her house was empty or that the only presentable piece of furniture Roxas had in his house was possibly a bedside lamp. Forgetting about everything going away. About helping others while forgetting about herself. Forgetting everything but what she saw right now. What she saw when she took the time to look at the world.

She was glad she had tried again.

And this time, she wasn't going to let it slip away.

* * *

I have little excuse for not uploading. Except that, without over-detailing it, my Dad had to have emergency surgery. Needless to say I've barely been on the computer let alone on here. I'm so sorry guys :(

Anyway thanks so much everyone! Seriously, each and every one who reviewed has given me inspiration and initiative to keep going :) I hope to become a better writer so stay tuned and hopefully I will have another story sometime soon after I finish/edit ANAN. Love you guys and really hope you like the chapter!

~Lara


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